21st Century Butler
by Dark Akuma Hunter
Summary: After his failure to gain the soul of Ciel Phantomhive Sebastian finds himself in the 21st century with a new master. A master whose circumstances sound strangely familiar. Spoilers for the end of season 2.
1. The story begins

**A/N: Hello everyone!**

**Important things to note: As the title suggests, this story is indeed set in the 21****st**** century, contrary to both the settings of Black Butler and D. Gray-Man. I wanted it to be in the 21****st**** century, so I just dragged everything from DGM and left it as it was, but in a different time period. I wasn't going to create an entirely new Order, since that would probably annoy people and not to mention it would annoy me.**

**Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Kuroshitsuji or D. Gray-Man, but I do own my main OC Jasmine, and if you want to steal her you have to ask first.**

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><p>A fist gently knocked on my bedroom door.<p>

"Mistress, are you awake?" a familiar, silky voice called in through the wood. I groaned and rolled over, checking the time on my phone.

"No, come back later." I grumbled, throwing a pillow at the door. It swung open, revealing a handsome black-haired man wearing a black butler's uniform. He smirked as I stretched and sat up, shirt falling down to my knees. "Go away." I complained, throwing a pillow at his face. He easily caught it with one hand.

"You seem to have forgotten, but today is the first day of the new school term." I sat bolt upright, violet eyes wide in shock.

"Damn it Sebastian! You could have reminded me YESTERDAY. Then I could have made a bigger effort to get up." I pouted, annoyed. Sebastian walked over to my closet and removed my winter uniform, placing it on the couch.

"Come downstairs when you've changed. You wouldn't want to be late." I swung my legs over the side of the bed and dropped down to the floor. Grabbing my uniform I headed into my private bathroom as Sebastian headed back downstairs. Looking in the mirror I brushed out my waist length copper hair and tied it back in a pony tail. After pulling on my uniform I spent a few minutes attempting to tie my tie, eventually giving up and deciding to get Sebastian to do it. As I wandered downstairs I nearly collided with Erika.

"Mistress!" she gasped. "I'm sorry, please forgive me, I was lost in thought." I smiled sleepily at her.

"Erika, I've told you before. Sebastian may call me a lot of things, but that doesn't mean you have to. It makes me feel weird anyway, having you call me that." She nodded and we parted ways, her going up, while I went down. When I walked into the dining room I handed Sebastian my tie and stood expectantly. He looked from me to it and smirked again, proceeding to tie it up.

"Are we having trouble this morning my lady?" he asked, stating the obvious. I frowned up at him.

"I'm really not in the mood for your jokes today." He let go of my tie and I sat down at the table, gulping down a cup of repulsive herbal tea before digging in to a piece of toast. You might be wondering why I willingly drank the tea if I find it so disgusting. It was medicine, or more of a stupid mixture that was supposed to give me vitamins and stuff since I ate too much junk food. _Stupid doctors and their stupid rules and theories…_ Once I had finished my bit of toast I stood up and headed for the door, Sebastian following with my school bag.

"Man, it feels like we wasted those two weeks. We went searching almost every day, yet we didn't find a single clue." I complained as I climbed into the back seat of the car.

"It will all fall into place when the time is right. Until then we are bound by the contract and I will continue to serve you faithfully." He stated as he slid behind the wheel. I rolled my eyes, having heard the speech countless times before.

"You say that all the time." I whined. "But we haven't uncovered a single thing in the last 2 years!"

"I suppose you do have a point there my lady." Sebastian said, thinking out loud. "No-one seems to have even realised what happened. There wasn't even a single obituary." I crossed my arms and stared out the window. When we pulled up to the school gate I jumped out, slinging my bag over my back.

"See you after school." I called back to him as I walked towards the bench where Emma, Mary and Tabitha were sitting.

"Good morning." Mary called melancholically. I grinned and sat next to Emma.

"You don't sound too sure about that." I joked. Emma elbowed me in the side.

"Hey, what's the deal with your brother? I haven't seen him in forever." She asked me. I grit my teeth. I hadn't seen Richard in 3 years, not since my parents were murdered. Mary perked up at the turn in the conversation.

"Jasmine has a brother?" she asked curiously. Emma nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, he's what, seventeen now? He's really handsome." I cleared my throat impatiently, announcing my discomfort with the subject. "Oh that's right, Jas doesn't like it when I talk about her brother." As Emma and Mary continued their gossip session I pulled out my phone and texted Erika.

'_**Can I skip skwl 2day? Id 4gotten how annoying Emma can be.'**_

Hitting send I left my phone on my lap and whacked Emma on the shoulder. She glared at me.

"Jas, don't you think we should introduce Mary to your brother?" She asked sweetly, voice laced with venom. Clutching my phone in my hand I got up and marched out the gate, leaving them speechless as they gazed after me. Once I was out I leaned against the fence, cursing my short temper. As I did so I noticed a strange red cloaked figure leaning against a telephone pole by the crossing. Something about them tugged at the back of my mind and I found myself approaching the figure, curiosity outweighing reason.

The closer I got the more of them I could make out. It was a man, wearing a red cloak, who had reasonably long red hair. He turned around when I accidentally kicked a stone. Perched on his face was a pair of red framed glasses. I stopped when I was about a meter away from him as I had just seen what he was carrying. A red chainsaw. My brain started functioning again and I realised why he seemed familiar. I had never seen him before in my life, but a guy of his description was hard to miss.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked him cautiously. He turned to face me.

"I love your hair." He stated harmlessly. "Red is such a wonderful colour." I glared at him.

"Grell Sutcliff." I let the statement hang in the air. He gave me a once-over and frowned.

"You're not an immortal. Do I know you?" I shook my head, folding my arms. He seemed unhappy with my answer and went to speak again but I bet him to it.

"You didn't answer my question. What are you doing?" He sighed and leaned heavily on his chainsaw.

"Will sent me out here to judge the soul of a student who's going to be hit by a car. But he wouldn't tell me when it was going to happen, so I have to stay here until it does. I think Will might be mad at me for some reason." He pouted childishly and I spun, heading back to the gate. "Wait, where are you going? You can't just ask me a question and leave me here!" I turned to glare at him.

"If I was you, I'd make sure I wasn't anywhere nearby when school ends." I said threateningly and stalked off.

"Why?" Grell Sutcliff called after my retreating figure. He sighed to himself. "Strange mortal."

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><p>"Jas where the hell did you run off to?" Emma demanded when I sat back down.<p>

"That's none of your business." I replied calmly, checking my phone. There was a reply from Erika.

_**'Mistress I know she might be acting up, but you haven't seen each other in **__**2 weeks. She's probably just excited. I'm sure you'll survive.'**_

Letting out an impatient sigh I stared at the screen for several minutes. _Even though I know what Erika said is probably true, it still bugs me. Emma knows there must be some reason she never sees Richard anymore, she just doesn't want to admit it._ My phone was suddenly snatched from my hands.

"Who's texting you that you'd spend so much time reading it?" Emma teased, reading the text. I groaned and tried to grab it back, but she kept it out of my reach. "Mistress?" she echoed, reading from the text. "Wait, isn't Erika your maid? You make her call you mistress? I never knew you had such a complicated personality Jas. A maid fetish AND a superiority complex." Mary laughed, while Tabitha looked off into space, thoroughly uninterested in what was happening. I slapped Emma and took my phone back before she dropped it.

"Wrong on both accounts Emma, but one thing I am is short-tempered. You should know better than to tease me after all these years." Mary stared at me, a look of utter disbelief on her face, having never been witness to my ferocious temper before. Picking up my bag I gave Emma one last angry glare before marching inside, heading straight to class. The bell rang as I passed through the doors.

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><p><strong>- Time Skip -<strong>

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><p>A black sports car pulled up outside the school gates. I looked around, nervously scanning for Grell, but it seemed he had listened to my warning and kept his distance. Sebastian was frowning when I climbed in the back, but he quickly plastered on a smile.<p>

"How was school mistress?" He asked, making small talk. Ignoring him I glared out the window, watching out for a flash of red, any tell-tale signs of Grell. There was nothing, and I let out a small sigh of relief.

"School sucked." Eyebrows knit together I frowned, thinking. "Emma has convinced Mary that she should come over and meet Richard. I don't even know what to tell them anymore." Sebastian glanced at me in the rear view mirror.

"You could always tell her the truth." He pointed out, teasing. I kicked the back of his seat and glared daggers at his head.

"Not you too. What is it, let's piss Jasmine off day?" His fake smile morphed into an amused smirk.

"It's good to see that the break has done nothing to change your temper. It's that temperament of yours that makes you seek vengeance."

"Is it that difficult for you to avoid bringing up the contract every day?" I complained as we pulled into the driveway.

"Well I wouldn't want you to forget now, would I?" His eyes glowed red for a moment, pulling me out of my angry stupor. After kicking open the door I marched angrily up the stairs into the house, ignoring Erika's greeting, and shut myself in the library. I threw my blazer and tie on a chair and grabbed a book at random off the shelves, positioning myself on the floor in the centre of the room. A knock sounded from behind me, in the direction of the hallway door.

"Go away!" I yelled, not caring who it was. A frustrated sigh reached my ears and I immediately knew it was Sebastian on the other side.

"But mistress, I have something important I would like to discuss..."

"I don't care! If you're bored why don't you break into the police station or something? It would be more progressive than trying to make me come out." Another sigh. He says I'm impatient, but the truth is that he's no better. He just suppresses it better than I do. There was a pause. The atmosphere was so tense I thought I could cut it with a knife.

"I understand my lady." His footsteps disappeared down the corridor, leaving me in silence. It was oddly warm, so I shuffled over to the window and opened it all the way, letting in the cool afternoon air. Resuming my position on the floor I poured all my attention into reading the book in my hands.


	2. Kidnapped, and a surprise revelation?

**A/N: Okay, chapter 2's up! I don't own KSJ or DGM. This chapter's kinda random. Forgive me if the characters start getting a bit OOC, I'll try not to let it happen too much.**

**Cheers to limegreenpandarocket for being the first person to review the last chapter :)**

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><p>After hearing the tone of his mistress's voice Sebastian decided to let her cool down for awhile. A little over an hour later he once again knocked on the door to the library. When he didn't receive a response he opened the door, nearly dropping the tray he was carrying when he saw the inside of the room. Books had been pulled from the shelves, and the papers which usually littered the desk were now strewn across the floor. Setting the tray down on the desk he knelt down, picking up a piece of paper off the ground.<p>

"What have you gotten yourself into?" he asked himself, placing the investigation findings back in its rightful place on the desk.

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><p>The first thing I noticed was that I couldn't speak. I couldn't move my jaw no matter how hard I tried. So I did the only thing I could. I opened my eyes. The next thing I noticed was that I couldn't move my arms or legs. Looking down I was shocked to see that I was bound to a chair. Obviously I came to the conclusion that I had been kidnapped, although it had never happened before and I could see no plausible reason for anyone to target me. When I looked closer I realised that someone had down a shaky copy of the contract pentagram on my left forearm, meaning I now had one on both arms. Struggling against my bonds I tried to make as much noise as I could. It annoyed me to no end that they would mimic Sebastian's mark, and even more so since they did such a shit job at it. I heard the creak of a door opening, and a moment later the lights flickered to life. Four men were now scattered around the room. One was sitting at a desk, two were on the couch, and the last man was standing guard by the door.<p>

"I see that the merchandise is awake." The man at the desk stated, annoyed. "We should have given her a larger dose." _What on earth are they talking about? Did they drug me?_ I turned my head as well as I could and glared violet daggers at him. My heart was beating in my ears as my blood boiled with hatred and anger. The tall, gaunt looking man on the couch started clapping, his eyes bright with childish joy.

"She's very feisty isn't she? You've done a good job." He complimented the first man. Breathing heavily through my nose I turned my glare on him, but he didn't so much as flinch. My eyes widened in shock and a chill ran down my spine. People have always been afraid of my eyes, calling them unnatural, and here before me is a man who takes pleasure in seeing them. His companion shuddered when I turned my gaze on him, eyebrow twitching in annoyance when I recognised him. Anthony Mulder, the current mayor of this seemingly peaceful town, was sitting in on a kidnapping. Confusion and rage were messing with my mind, overwhelming me. Glass smashed behind me. I cringed, expecting to get cut by shards. Instead, a man in black walked slowly around my chair. _Sebastian!_ He kept his back to me, but I could tell he was smiling.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get here my lady. It took me longer than expected to locate you." I grinned around the gag and managed to choke out some partial words. He turned, a look of understanding on his face. Kneeling down he removed the gag. Once that was done he began tearing away the restraints keeping me in the chair. While he did that I launched into a horrendous wave of curses at the dumbstruck occupants of the room. When the last strap was ripped off I was free to move again, although I was reluctant to when I realised the restraints had been cutting off my circulation. Sebastian was watching me expectantly. I sighed, rubbing my arm where the straps had dug in.

"Take me home Sebastian." I commanded tiredly. "We'll deal with these wannabe human traffickers another time." Sebastian bowed and the seal on my right arm glowed violet.

"As you command my lady." He picked me up bridal-style and jumped out of the window without a moment's hesitation. We jumped from rooftop to rooftop, staying out of sight until we reached the mansion. Erika was in a worried frenzy when we arrived back, and the fact that I could barely walk didn't help her state of mind. After several failed attempts to climb the stairs I submitted and let Sebastian carry me to my room, with Erika close behind. He set me down on my bed and I glared at him, his signal to leave. Erika brought me my pyjamas and began to brush and plait my hair, mostly to calm herself down rather than by my request. Around an hour later, when she was finished, I told her to leave me alone. She obediently got up and left, quietly closing the door. Keeping movement to a minimum I changed into a long-sleeved top and some long pyjama pants to hide the angry red welt-like bruises on my arms and legs. Sighing I collapsed on my bed and crawled under the covers. My eyelids were heavy and I drifted off into a restless sleep.

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><p>- Time Skip -<p>

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><p>My eyes shot open and I panicked, unable to see. Heart racing I sat up and turned around, sighing in relief when I realised the only reason I couldn't see was because it was dark. Reaching out my hand brushed against the edge of my bedside table. I found the lamp and flipped the switch. The room came to life, with eerie shadows on the far wall cast from my things strewn on the floor. Grabbing my phone off the table I opened it and checked the time. 4:30A.M. I groaned in frustration. <em>I'm never going to get back to sleep .<em>I decided there was no point in trying to sleep, so I climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom to have a shower. After spending a good 30 minutes under the flowing water I gave up trying to wash off the imitation contract. Nothing was working, and I was just making myself angry. I got dressed, putting on my school shirt and some shorts. Glancing at the mirror I frowned, seeing the bags under my eyes and line around my throat. I finished buttoning my shirt, hiding it from view. Pulling my hairdryer out I plugged it in and started the tedious job of drying my long hair. I didn't care that it was still only quarter past 5 in the morning, since Sebastian and Erika were probably up already anyway. When my hair was semi-dry I gave up and plodded into my room, sinking into the couch. When Sebastian came to wake me up I had just started to doze off on the couch. He probably would have left me there, but I heard the door opening and stood up. I finished getting dressed and went downstairs.

"Mistress I think it would be best if you didn't go to school today." I brushed off Erika's concern and absently rested my hand on the back of my neck as I sat down at the table.

"My lady, is something wrong with your neck?" I forced my hand down as Sebastian watched me curiously. The skin around my birthmark was itching, burning almost, although it wasn't exactly the first time it had happened. Glaring at Sebastian I started ripping up a piece of toast, making a pile on my plate. He sighed, realising I wasn't going to eat anything, and removed the plates. Erika followed him, offering to help, and I closed my eyes against the burning sensation.

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><p>- Time skip -<p>

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><p>My feet were heavy as I passed through the school gates, the building looking more like a prison today than ever before. Emma called out to me and I cringed, fearing more interrogation.<p>

"Hey Jas, sorry if I upset you yesterday." Tongue-tied I blinked in confusion. Did she just apologise? In all the time I'd known her she had never once said sorry to anyone. I smiled weakly.

"Don't worry about it."

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><p>-Time Skip-<p>

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><p>Everyone was eating and chatting about silly pointless things. I sat on the edge of the bench, staring into nothing. My bag was closed at my feet and I was ignoring their conversation. I could sense a shinigami presence, Grell was outside again. He hadn't been there this morning. I felt compelled to talk to him and my feet began to move by themselves. My neck tingled and I rubbed my bruised wrist as I crossed over into the street. Grell turned when he heard my footsteps on the pavement.<p>

"Oh, it's you again." He said, sulking. Crossing my arms across my chest I gave him a confused look.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Pouting he pushed a long red strand of hair behind his ear.

"I may have been hoping that Will had taken pity on me and decided to tell me when this person is supposed to die." He admitted sheepishly. I grinned, an evil thought coming into my mind.

"Grell, just how mad do you think Will is right now?" I asked him, feinting curiosity. He paused, curling a piece of hair around his finger as he thought.

"Well he's very good at hiding his emotions... I don't have a clue."

"If that's the case, then this might just be Will's way of getting rid of you for awhile. This girl might not die for months. I think he's giving himself a holiday." I remarked, smirking. Grell lunged at me and I danced out of his reach, laughing. He glared at me and I smiled, staying perfectly still as something flew past my head and embedded itself into the telephone pole behind his head. There was a flash of black material before Sebastian materialised by my side.

"My lady, may I ask what it is you're doing, talking to this reaper?" he had a disgusted look on his face.

"I was only talking to him." I pouted innocently, "Lunch is boring, so I needed something to keep me entertained." Sebastian glanced down at me.

"Be that as it may, I'm going to get rid of him now. Do you mind?" I shrugged.

"Go ahead. I don't really care either way." I headed back towards the school, pausing when I sensed another supernatural nearby.

"Is it Will?" I muttered to myself, looking around nervously. When I looked back at Sebastian I noticed he was staring behind me, eyes wide in shock. I spun, muttering a curse when I stumbled. My violet eyes squinted against the sun. When they readjusted I let out a gasp. The person standing before me had demon red eyes, the same as Sebastian's. There had been photos and news articles about him in a folder in my mother's room.

"I remember you!" Grell exclaimed, having been momentarily forgotten about. "You're the little brat who had that demon hound. The Phantomhive boy!" I felt like I had been punched in the gut. The son of my great, great uncle, the boy in Sebastian's stories, the one who disappeared.

"Uncle Ciel!" I cried out, confused. He turned his gaze to me and Sebastian made a disbelieving noise.

"Mistress, what are you talking about?" Sebastian called out. I glared at him.

"Your questions can wait Sebastian." Ciel said, speaking for the first time. We all stared at him. "Don't worry about me; I'm not going to interfere. I was just in the neighbourhood and decided to check out the situation." The school bell rang, startling me.

"I have to get back..." I made a run for it, ignoring the looks the teachers gave me as I whipped past them. When I made it back to the seats I fell to my knees, vision swimming. Emma cried out, grabbing my shoulder. I tried to focus on her but my sight was failing. Blacking out I fell to the ground.

"Oh my god, Jas, what's wrong?" she screamed. Sebastian appeared out of nowhere, startling Emma. He scooped his mistress into his arms and excused himself, leaving Emma in a confused daze, and several dumbstruck teachers.

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><p><strong>AN: This chapter's kinda edging towards mindless babble, but that's probably just me.**

**Ah, surprise revelation from Jasmine! She's a Phantomhive. Sebastian really needs to pick his battles better :P**

**Any guesses what Jasmine's birthmark REALLY is?**  
><strong>Next chapter upload will take longer I'm thinking, since I should really try and concentrate on my assessment a bit. I'll still aim to have another chapter by monday though.<strong>

**If you review I'll give you cookies :)**


	3. Confrontation

**Disclaimer: I do not own KSJ or DGM (don't kill me, it will get there eventually, I'm not lying!)**

**A/N: Nobody's reviewing. It makes me sad. If you review you get a cookie, don't forget.**

**Cookie scoreboard:**

**Limegreenpandarocket - 1**

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><p>According to Sebastian and Erika I was out for an entire day. I didn't believe them at first, but my phone confirmed their story. Sebastian said that it was probably an adverse effect from being around so many supernatural's at the same time. I grudgingly accepted his explanation, since I did have a rather strong sixth sense.<p>

"You should rest." Erika begged me. Ignoring her I went back to my room. I had plans and I didn't want to wait too long to put them into action. I grabbed a long-sleeved black and grey tie-dyed shirt and some jeans from my drawers and marched into my bathroom to get changed. When I came out again I nearly had a heart attack.

"Ciel! What are you doing in my room?" I asked the young demon sitting on my couch. He shrugged, red eyes flashing.

"I was bored." He stated simply. I rolled my eyes impatiently.

"Whatever. I'm going out now though, so you can't stay here." I pointed out. He climbed to his feet.

"I guess I'll go with you then." It was my turn to shrug, not really caring what he did either way.

"Fine." I said emotionlessly, "Just don't get in my way." He held his hands up in submission. I nodded then proceeded to climb out the window. He gave me a strange look but followed me anyway.

"Why don't you just use the front door?" he asked from behind me. I climbed down to the next balcony before turning to face him.

"I don't want Erika to know I'm gone." He smirked.

"At least you're not trying to hide from Sebastian. You should know by now that it doesn't work." I turned my back on him and dropped to the ground. Ciel landed noiselessly on the grass next to me. "Lead the way." He motioned for me to move. Running my fingers across the fence I located the camouflaged gate which opened onto a walkway.

"Nifty." Ciel commented, impressed. Pushing the gate open I marched down the walkway and onto the street. I was about four o'clock in the afternoon and I ran into Yuki on her way home from school. Luckily she didn't notice me, so I inched around her and headed in the opposite direction.

"Where exactly are we going?" Ciel asked me, sounding bored.

"You'll find out when we get there." I said irritably to my uncle. We took a winding route into the edge of the business district, my sparkly flats slapping the pavement while Ciel's boots drifted silently. I stopped in front of an impressive looking 10 story building.

"Is this it?" Ciel asked again. I glanced down at the impatient boy and entered the building. There was no-one in the reception area which was lucky, since I didn't have a very legit reason to be here. I scrutinised the directory behind the desk, trying to figure out which floor I needed to go to. Once I'd figured out what the sign actually said I stormed up the stairs (it's easier to avoid people in a stairwell as opposed to being in the elevator) and snuck into the second floor lobby.

"I still don't get what we're doing." Ciel complained. Turning I glared at him.

"Leave me alone then!" He stayed put and I shook my head angrily. He was distracting me. Surprisingly there were almost no people on the second floor. They must have all gone home early or something. Thankfully though, there was a light on in the mayor's office. I grinned as we advanced on the door. Ciel silently opened the door and we crept inside, shutting it behind us. The mayor was on the phone, so while I waited for him to notice us I scoured the room for surveillance cameras. Once I identified them I adjusted my position so that my back would be facing the camera. I didn't want to make it too easy for them to identify me. Ciel looked at me and I nodded subtly. We walked up to his desk. When Mr Mulder STILL didn't notice us Ciel sat himself down in the chair in front of his desk while I rifled through some of his papers. I didn't read any of them, since I wasn't interested in the council, but when he reached for the papers and realised they were gone he finally looked up and saw us.

"Good evening Mr Mayor." I sang cheerfully, dropping his papers on the floor. All the colour drained from his face as the cogs ticked and he remembered who I was. My lips twitched into a smirk and something wicked flashed in my violet eyes. I slammed my hands down on his desk and Anthony jumped nearly a metre in the air.

"What do you want?" he murmured.

"Sorry, I didn't quite hear that." I leaned closer to his desk, until I was on eye level with him. He shuddered as he stared into my eyes and didn't even bat an eyelid when Ciel put his feet on his desk.

"I asked you what you wanted." He said again louder, voice quivering. Standing up I crossed my arms, pouting. _Am I really that scary?_ I wondered to myself.

"You don't need to yell." I complained, pretending to be hurt by his tone. Keeping my back to the camera I walked over to stand beside Ciel. "All I want is information. I could get it easily enough, but I'm going to ask you first. Why are you affiliating yourself with kidnappers?" Anthony swallowed.

"He's my head of security. He asked me to come to a meeting, so I came with him. Turns out he was lying, but what could I do? I was already there." I flicked my tongue against my teeth, shaking my head.

"That's the wrong answer. Once you realised what was going on you could have asserted your authority and released me. Question number two: Why was I kidnapped?" He was literally quaking in his boots.

"I really don't know. I swear I'm telling the truth." Rolling my eyes I slammed my palms down on his desk once more, for impact.

"I don't really care either way, but at least give me SOMETHING useful. Otherwise this is just a waste of my time." He cringed and looked at his hands.

"The man on the couch…" I cleared my throat menacingly when he stopped.

"Go on." I encouraged.

"The man on the couch is a wealthy man from out of town. His name is Cameron Little." I smiled.

"See? That wasn't so hard now was it?" Backing up I looked to Ciel. "I'm also guessing that I'm not going to get anything else out of you today. We're leaving now." Ciel stood up and followed me to the door. I turned back to Anthony. "I'll see you around." I stated cryptically. He cringed and watched us leave. Once the door was closed behind us I burst into a bout of hysterical laughter. "Did you see his face?" I choked out, giggling. "That was fun!" Ciel eyed me like I was something to be worried about.

"You're acting a bit sadistic aren't you?" I froze and glared at him.

"I am not!" Flipping my hair over my shoulder I stormed off towards the stairs.

"Hey wait up!" he yelled after me. The floor was completely empty this time around, with people not opting to work past five. I slammed the stairwell door in his face and stomped down three flights of stairs, waiting for him at the bottom. "What was that for?" he complained, red eyes angry. I shuddered slightly as his demon side showed through.

"I'm not a sadist." I pouted childishly. He rolled his eyes and opened the door. Surprisingly there was still no-one in the reception area. We walked quietly through the hallway, always on the lookout for people. As we passed by the security room I noticed everybody was watching the big monitor on the far wall. According to the camera description, it was the camera from the mayor's office. They rewound the film and I found myself staring at my back as I leaned threateningly over Anthony's desk. My mouth dropped open in horror as I realised my shirt had been riding up at the back, showing off a discoloured four-leaf clover. I went to leave, but I accidentally kicked the door as I moved, making it bang into the wall. They turned around to look at us.

"Can I help you?" one of the men asked irritably. I shook my head.

"Umm… No thank you. I was looking for my mum, but she isn't here anymore, so I was just leaving." He glared at me, and then nodded reluctantly. I took that as permission to leave and high-tailed it out of there. Once we were a few blocks away I collapsed against a wall, breathing heavily. My eyes had tears in them from lying about my mother, so I closed them to prevent Ciel from seeing them. I shook like a leaf as I tried to bring my emotions back under control. When I decided I was calm enough and I no longer felt an urge to cry I pushed off the wall and started walking slowly back in the direction of the mansion.

"Those men were really quite thick, not recognising us. Is it supposed to be a coincidence that you just happened to look an awful lot like the person on the surveillance video? Security these days is really slack. Even with all this advanced technology, stupid people are still stupid." Ciel pointed out as we climbed up a slope.

"I don't want to talk about it." I muttered angrily, increasing my pace to get away from him.

"Are you sure you're really a Phantomhive?" The question was so out of the blue that it stopped me dead in my tracks. Scowling I turned to face him, hands on hips.

"Oh course I'm sure!" I yelled, forgetting we were in the middle of the street. "It was my mother's maiden name. She was researching your disappearance before she was killed." I added quietly, almost as an afterthought. Ciel seemed stunned by my sudden revelation, but quickly regained his composure.

"By the fact that you said killed and not died, I assume that trouble still plagues the Phantomhives, even this far from England and the reach of her majesty." I stared at him, shocked. Shaking my head violently in defiance I turned and walked off again. "I'm right, aren't I?" he persisted.

"No-one even knows I'm a Phantomhive! I'm a Dionysus through and through, and that's probably where the real problem lies. Anyway, I highly doubt that Queen Elizabeth would go through so much effort to track down the remainder of the Phantomhive line when they weren't even her problem to begin with. Victoria might have been hateful, but the times have changed." Ciel listened to my rant with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You do have a point there." He admitted reluctantly as we came to the bottom of my street. "I guess I'm still stuck in the past after all. That means I probably won't be of any help to you."

"You're a demon." I pointed out. "You never had a reason to help me in the first place, so it's not like I'm going to miss your assistance. The only reason you even got involved today was because you were bored."

"You're right again. Maybe I should spend some time actually getting used to this time period instead of messing around in other peoples affairs." He stopped outside the gate. "Sebastian won't be pleased if he finds me hanging around anyway, and I really don't have any desire to fight him." I laughed, violet eyes bright with unshed tears.

"Until we meet again then."

"Until we meet again." He promised then disappeared into the coming night. My hair flew out behind me as I raced around the side of the house. I climbed up using the balconies and managed to make it back to my room mere moments before Erika came to get me for dinner. My face was red from exertion and I quickly kicked my dirty shoes out of sight beneath my bed.

"What on earth happened to your face?" Erika asked, extremely confused as she thought I had been in my room until now. I shrugged cheerfully.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Erika." I pushed past her and padded barefoot down the stairs towards the dining room.

"Sebastian, I need to talk to you later." I gave him a meaningful look, telling him that it was something Erika could not be allowed to hear.

"I understand my lady."

* * *

><p>Time skip<p>

* * *

><p>I sat on the chair in the library with my chin on my knees as I told Sebastian about my visit with the mayor.<p>

"We have a name now Sebastian. I want you to find out anything you can about Cameron Little, and also I want to know the details regarding the mayor's head of security. Go now. The information shouldn't be too difficult to get a hold of." Sebastian knelt down in front of me.

"As you command mistress." He disappeared out the window, leaving me in silence as I raged about the world.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, so just hang in there and be patient. I'm thinking there will be maybe 2 more chapters before any exorcists show up. Please don't kill me! I'm trying, in fact I've already written that chapter, I just have to do the inbetweens now...**


	4. Abduction

Soft footsteps echoed down the hallway. I lay perfectly still in my bed, trying to figure out who it was. Surely if it was Sebastian I wouldn't be able to hear him at all, but it definitely wasn't Erika. The footsteps stopped outside my door and I closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. My phone buzzed loudly, making me cringe. Reaching out I opened it to stop the noise. It was a text from Emma, wondering if I was coming to school today. Sighing in defeat I texted her back saying that I was, since I knew she was impatient and would just text me again if I didn't reply. The door creaked open and I quickly shoved my phone under the covers to hide the light. Someone's breath tickled my neck and I shuddered.

"I know you're awake young mistress, there's no need to pretend otherwise." I let out the air I'd been holding in and sat up slowly.

"Sebastian, don't scare me like that!" I whined as he stepped away from the bed.

"My apologies. I thought you would like the information I gathered last night." He held out a manila folder in his hands. Snatching it from his hands I flipped through it while he turned on the light.

"You sure did find a lot of information." The shock was evident in my voice, considering the failure of other information collecting missions.

"Yes, well, this sort of information is much more readily accessible than the other things we've been looking for."

"Of course it is." I muttered bitterly, throwing back the covers and climbing out of bed. After making shooing motions at Sebastian I dropped the folder on my bed, promising myself I would read it later. Padding quietly into the bathroom I grabbed a bar of soap and tried one last time to wash off the imitation contract pentagram. To my utmost surprise, this time it actually worked. As I dried my arm I smiled, already feeling that today would be a good day.

* * *

><p>-Time Skip-<p>

* * *

><p>I wandered over to the bench, dumping my bag and stretching my arms high above my head to relieve the tension after my first two classes of the day. No-one else had made it out yet, so I headed out the gate to check on Grell. Strangely enough he wasn't there.<p>

"Did his mission finally end?" I wondered out loud. As I turned to go back into the school a hand clamped over my mouth and a wave of Greek flowed through my head as they muttered something. Opening my mouth I took a deep breath, inhaling the unmistakable scent of chlorophyll.

"Oh shit, not again." The words floated around my head before my vision went hazy.

* * *

><p>-Time Skip-<p>

* * *

><p>When I opened my eyes the first thing I saw was a masked man setting up a video camera. Looking down I realised that I was indeed once again tied to a chair in an unknown location for an unknown location. The man behind the camera made some hand gestures and said something I couldn't quite hear. The camera turned to face me and another man stepped beside me, holding a knife. A light glowed green on the camera and he started speaking.<p>

"Η Ruma θα ήθελε να αντιμετωπίσει το βασιλιά και τη βασίλισσα της Ελλάδα." He began, holding the knife uncomfortably close to my neck. The language sparked a memory in my head, but I couldn't place it. "Έχουμε μαζί μας εδώ την εγγονή της σημερινής βασίλισσας." I turned to look at him, violet eyes wide in panic.

"Hey, what's going on?" I cried, scared, but also surprised that I could talk. He ignored me and continued speaking.

"Τα αιτήματά μας είναι απλά. Είμαστε δυσαρεστημένοι με τον κανόνα σας και θέλετε για να παραιτηθεί. Εάν δεν συμμορφωθεί ..." Suddenly he cut off and turned to me, brandishing the knife threateningly. He slashed my side and I screamed in pain as blood blossomed on my white shirt. Turning back to the camera he continued his speech. "Αν δεν συμμορφωθούν τότε κάτι πολύ χειρότερο θα συμβεί σε αυτήν." The camera operator said something and the guy wielding the knife smirked evilly. I closed my eyes tightly against the pain. "Θα θέλετε, ακόμη και πίσω μετά από αυτό;" He wondered aloud to the camera. Wiping the blood off the blade he turned his back to the camera.

"Sebastian this is an order. Save me!" I cried, pentagram glowing purple under my sleeve. A scream burst from my lungs as I felt the man slash my forehead multiple times. I struggled to stay still and tears streamed from my eyes. All of a sudden I heard a loud crash so I cracked open one eye. Sebastian was dealing with the stabber, but the camera man took one look, grabbed the footage and ran for it. There was a thump and the man fell to the floor. Sebastian quickly untied me and picked me up gently in his arms.

"You should have called for me sooner." He pointed out. I glared at him, hand clutching my bleeding side.

"Don't go there." I warned him before whimpering in pain. "I need help." I muttered faintly, struggling to hold on.

* * *

><p>When Sebastian reached the mansion there was already a doctor waiting inside.<p>

"Place her on the couch." She directed, pointing to the couch she had gotten Erika to cover with old sheets. I groaned at the seemingly sudden change in altitude. She knelt down beside me and rolled up my shirt to examine the damage. "You really would be better off taking her to a hospital." She told Sebastian. Fists clenched by my sides I protested quietly.

"Isn't it more important that she be treated quickly as opposed to being moved once again?" Sebastian replied calmly. The doctor frowned, obviously not happy.

"Well the cut isn't as deep as it seems, although it will still need stitches." My eyes flew open.

"No stitches!" I cried weakly, remembering my last experience with stitches.

"Are you sure?" I nodded furiously, cringing when more blood ran into my right eye. "Well I can bandage it and stop the bleeding, but it will take longer to heal and it will be more delicate during the healing process."

"I don't care." I moaned, grabbing the sheet when she pressed a wadded up ball of cloth against the cut. "As long as there aren't any stitches."

"You're a stubborn one aren't you?" She told Sebastian to hold me up slightly off the couch so she could wrap the bandages around my stomach. I clenched my teeth together, refusing to cry out. The doctor pulled the bandage tight and taped it in place. She taped it in several other places, securing the padding and bandages. Sebastian lowered me back onto the couch and I sighed in relief at being on a level surface again.

"Okay then, time to take a look at your forehead." She carefully pulled back the bloodied strands of hands hair from the cuts. Sebastian's expression changed to slight amusement and the doctor gasped in shock.

"What's wrong now?" I murmured. She shook her head slightly and got out some disinfectant. Dipping a cotton ball into the solution she dabbed it on the cuts, making my head sting. She cleaned the blood off my face then cut some smaller strips from the bandages to put over it.

"Just keep still for a little while longer." She requested; reassuring me it wouldn't be much longer. Gently she positioned the bandages on my forehead before taping them down. "All done." She confirmed. I relaxed and unclenched my fists.

"Thank you for your assistance doctor." Sebastian said formally, bowing slightly. She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly before turning back to me.

"You should take it easy and rest for a couple of days before you even consider moving too much." I nodded, thoughts already drifting as exhaustion set in. When I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore I submitted to sleep and let Sebastian and Erika deal with the doctor.

* * *

><p>-Time Skip-<p>

* * *

><p>The tinny sound of voices coming from the television brought me back. Groggily I opened my eyes and focused on the TV. The news was playing, so I guessed it was around 6 o'clock.<p>

"Breaking news! Late this afternoon we received some shocking footage from a rebel group based in Greece." The announcer stated. "They took a hostage and seemed to be asking for a rather extreme ransom. We should warn the viewers that the footage is violent in some areas." They rolled the footage and the interpreters monologue voice came on.

"The Ruma would like to address the King and Queen of Greece. We have with us here today the granddaughter of the Queen. Our demands are simple. We are unhappy with your rule and wish for you to step down. If you do not comply…" There was a scream and I looked away from the TV. "If you do not comply, something much worse will happen to her. Will you even want her back after this?" More screaming, then a black figure invaded the screen before the video cut off. The news announcers appeared back on the screen.

"As of yet we have been unable to identify the girl in the video, but any information viewers have would be welcomed." I grinned sadly.

"I guess it's a good thing that none of my friends watch the news." Lying still I listened to the news, for a lack of something else to do. There was a story about an earthquake somewhere in Asia.

"During the last ten minutes we have had an influx of emails from people claiming to know the identity of the kidnap victim." My body tensed up and I tried to sit, mumbling a stream of curses when a gentle but firm hand held me down.

"Let go." I demanded angrily.

"I can't do that mistress. The doctor said you mustn't move, and I can't have you dying on me." Glaring into his red eyes I let him push me back onto the couch.

"The emails all appear to be saying the same thing. The kidnap victim is apparently a local girl by the name of Jasmine Dionysus. Since we have no idea of her current condition it would be helpful if anyone who sees her could report to the police." I grabbed Sebastian's arm before he left.

"Get me the phone." He nodded and I let go of his arm. Moments later he returned, carrying a sleek black portable phone. I snatched it from his hands and quickly began to dial the number for the news stations complaints department. The phone rang for several minutes, and I was about to hang up and try again when someone finally answered.

"TV 3 complaints department, how may I help you?" A bored male voice poured down the line as he repeated his scripted lines.

"What do you think you're playing at, revealing my identity on national television like that? Isn't that against the law or something?" I raged angrily through the phone. There was a shocked gasp.

"Umm…" he swallowed hesitantly. "Would you be that Jasmine girl who was just on the news then?"

"Well done." I praised, voice laced with sarcasm. "I'm glad you're not a complete idiot. Aw who am I kidding?" My expression changed as I dropped the sarcastic pretence. "You screwed up my life!" After screaming the last sentence I hit the end button, hanging up on the poor scared guy. Sebastian skilfully caught the phone when it slipped from my hand. Switching the TV off I lay back on the couch, eyes closed in frustration.

"Sebastian, take me to my room." I begged quietly.

* * *

><p>Lying in bed with my back up against a stack of pillows I leafed through the manila folder from this morning. Picking out a page at random I studied it carefully, absorbing the information.<p>

"Tony Furtelli." I murmured his name as I read his file. "He sounds like an Italian mafia boss." Grinning bitterly I picked up another page. It turned out that Tony had a criminal record, yet for some unknown reason the mayor still promoted him to head of security. "I bet he's regretting that decision now." I leaned back, looking up at the ceiling as the papers fluttered to the floor. The ironic smirk faded from my face when I closed my eyes, drifting off into a black oblivion.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay okay okay shoot me if you will BUT I swear on my life that she will NEVER get kidnapped again! It just had to happen, don't ask me why. Next upload... umm... eventually? I'm kinda stressed out right now waiting to find out who gets to go to Canada for school exchange. So yeah, I'll update when I can. Phew *hides behind bullet-proof glass in case they actually do try and shoot me* I'm thinking that, by the looks of things that a special visitor from the Black Order will show up in chapter 6, fingers crossed.**  
><strong>Jasmine sure does sleep a lot aye. We'll have to remedy that :P<strong>


	5. Recovery phase 1

A week had passed since my second bout of kidnapping horror and I was still under constant supervision, trapped in my bed. Sebastian had been strangely insistent that I follow the doctor's orders, but then again he probably had his reasons for that. My soul was hanging in the balance after all. If I went and died on him I would imagine he would be rather devastated.

My laptop had been my only access to the outside world. Facebook however deemed only to make me depressed, having found hundreds of new pages about myself along with a barrage of messages on my wall. On Friday I had gotten extremely irritated and posted an angry status, essentially telling everyone that I was fine and that they should piss off and leave me alone. While I was there I also changed my profile name from Jasmine M Dionysus to Jas Phantomhive. Nothing passes time better than spending countless hours staring at a screen after all.

Sebastian knocked quietly on my door.

"Come in." I answered bored. The raven butler entered the room, carrying a sealed envelope. "What's that?" The envelope had sparked my curiosity. He handed it to me then stepped back, eyes glinting dimly in the sunlight. Carefully I peeled the envelope open, trying as hard as I could not to damage it. Inside there was a single official looking piece of paper. I scanned over it quickly then handed it to Sebastian to read.

"To Miss Jasmine Dionysus. On behalf of the King and Queen of Greece I would like to express my deepest apologies for your unfortunate situation. The Queen in particular was very distressed to hear that someone had been mistakenly identified as a member of the royal family and kidnapped purely because of their name." He glanced up at me, eyes amused. "She also wishes for your forgiveness for getting dragged into issues that don't concern you. I sincerely hope this letter reaches you, and you are welcome to reply to put the Queen's mind at ease." The raven handed me back the fancy page, embellished with the symbol of the Dionysus family. I let it fall to the floor.

"Get me THAT box Sebastian." I demanded impatiently. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Do you plan to reply then mistress?" Glaring at him I folded my arms defiantly, wincing as the bandages pulled against my skin. "I understand." Bowing almost imperceptibly he swept out of the room. I shoved myself up against my pillows until I was sitting straight up and pulled my laptop onto my lap. A pale shadow settled across the bed, warning me that Sebastian was back. He placed a shoebox beside me on the mattress.

"Thanks." I muttered, not looking up from the screen. There was a blank word document sitting open on the screen as I tried to think of what to write. Reaching out with one hand I picked up the box and placed it in on the keyboard. Hesitantly I took the lid off the box. It hadn't been opened even once since that fateful day. Inside was an assortment of documents and pictures. Reaching in I rummaged around for a minute before bringing out several items. I handed them to Sebastian.

"Get this photocopied will you?" He gently removed the pages from my grip and walked silently out into the hallway. I put the lid back on and dropped the box on the floor, getting it out of the way. "_To the Queen of Greece, Thaleia Dionysus._" I typed slowly into the document, thinking of how best to put the things I wanted to say. "_I thank you for your concern and I believe it is time you knew the truth. My father's name is Baltasar Dionysus, although he always went by Janis. You know it is entirely plausible. He left the palace in Greece almost 20 years ago and never returned. Did you even know that he got married? To prove to you that I am not lying I will include with this letter photos of myself, my brother, my mother and my father. Dad always used to say that I had the same eyes as his own mother. He told us stories about his life at the palace, and he taught us Greek from a young age, although he only told us why when I was 10. When we were older he said that he would bring us to meet you, our family in Greece. I don't blame you if you still don't believe me grandmother, but I just thought that you should know. From Jasmine Mariabel Dionysus. P.S, letters are rather slow, don't you think? If you want to reply to this letter then email me at jasmine..com._" Sighing I leant back and hit ctrl s, saving the letter. Slow cautious footsteps echoed down the hall, approaching the door.

"Erika, is that you?" I called. The footsteps stopped and there was a moment's pause before the door swung open. Erika stepped into the doorway, blonde hair partially covering her face. "What's up Erika?" She looked up.

"Oh, I was just wondering how you were doing. I saw Sebastian leaving before so I figured I would see if you needed anything." I smiled at her.

"Do you think you could take this bandage off?" I pointed to my forehead. "It should be healed enough by now and it's getting kind of annoying." She came over and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I narrowed my eyes at her in frustration and she seemed to get the message. She carefully pulled away the tape holding the cloth in place before gently taking it off. Dropping the bandage she clasped her hands over her mouth in shock. I frowned at her odd behaviour.

"What's wrong Erika?" she shook her head vigorously, unable to utter a sound. Rolling my eyes I got out of bed and hobbled unsteadily to the bathroom, planning on using the mirror to assess the situation. With my hands gripping the edge of the sink for support I looked into the mirror, using one hand to brush my hair out of my face. My lips curled into a dark smirk when I recognised the shape. The knife-wielding idiot had carved an upside-down star on my forehead. It was surprisingly similar to the pentagram in Sebastian's contract seal. The only problem was that it didn't seem to be healing properly. The skin had healed, meaning that it wouldn't bleed again, but it was still ragged and didn't look healed at all.

"What the hell?" I muttered, letting my hair fall back over it. "Hey Erika, can you print that document for me and bring it here along with an envelope?" I called over my shoulder before I started to walk back to my bed. She was gone by the time I made it back to the doorway, walking painstakingly slowly to avoid reopening my side wound. Sebastian drifted back into the room with the photocopied pictures just as I reached the bed. He picked me up and placed me on the mattress before handing them over to me.

"Did you finish the letter?" he asked, moving the laptop to my bedside table.

"Yeah, Erika printed it for me. I sent her to go and get it from the study. She's getting me an envelope as well."

"I see. Is there anything else you want me to do?"

"Yeah. Could you put that box back? I don't need Erika seeing what's inside."

"Right away my lady." I rolled my eyes as I was left alone once more.

Eventually Erika returned with the letter and a blank envelope.

"What took you so long Erika? Was it really that hard to find an envelope?" She nodded, breathless.

"I looked all over the place, but I had to dig all the way to the bottom of the draw in the study to find even a single envelope. I must say that the rooms aren't very well organised for finding things like that." Sighing I held my hand out for the paper. She placed it in my hand and gave me a pen.

"Thanks for all the trouble Erika." She smiled.

"Isn't that my job? You don't have to thank me. I know you would have done it yourself if you weren't bedridden." I nodded absently, looking for the address on the original envelope. When I couldn't find it I examined the paper the letter was written on. After a few minutes of scrutinising I found what I was looking for in small print at the bottom of the page. I carefully copied the address onto the blank envelope, making sure not to make any mistakes to save Erika from having to find another one. Folding my reply in half I slipped it, along with the photos, into the envelope and sealed it.

"Erika, I'm going back to school tomorrow. If I don't start moving around soon then I'll never heal properly, I can feel it. That and I'm starting to go a little stir crazy." Erika looked up, surprised by my sudden announcement, then looked down at her hands again.

"I understand. Will you tell Sebastian or do you want me to do it?" I shrugged.

"If you see him on the way downstairs then you can tell him, otherwise I'll do it." Erika nodded and stood up, taking my sealed envelope with her so she could post it.

* * *

><p>The next day<p>

* * *

><p>At school everyone was looking at me with pity in their eyes. Seniors, juniors, teachers, everyone. Even people who I didn't know and who I hadn't spoken a single word to in my life were looking at me with those same eyes. It was almost more than I could bare, but I knew I had to stay put and endure their stares or they would never stop.<p>

"You're wearing your hair differently." Emma commented, trying to break the tension at lunch. I had my fringe hanging down over my eyes in an attempt to hide the shocking pentagram scar, not wanting to add more fuel to the staring fire.

"Leave her alone. She can do whatever she wants." Mary elbowed Emma in the ribs, making me laugh before grabbing my own side as it ached from the movement.

"Jas are you okay?" They both asked me. I looked at them with one eye open.

"Don't make me laugh!" I complained, grinning. They both smiled but gave each other a look. My grin disappeared since I knew what that look was for. "Seriously you guys?" When they turned to look at me they had guilty expressions on their faces.

"What's wrong?" I glared at them, curling a strand of hair around my finger in frustration.

"Look, it's been over a week since I've been to school, I get that. What I don't get is why everyone feels the need to treat me differently. And no, I haven't forgotten the reason why I haven't been here. It's really annoying me!" Mary cringed and started toying with the edge of her kilt.

"News spreads like wildfire in schools, you know that Jas. Considering how few people actually know your name there was a ton of people whose parents recognised you on the news. We can't help how people react." Emma pointed out bitterly. I frowned, picked up my bag and padded inside.

* * *

><p>"Jasmine, thank you for seeing me." Miss Henderson was sitting in the big chair in her office across the table from me.<p>

"Sure thing." I mumbled my response. What was I supposed to do? When the principal wants to see you the one thing you can't do is ignore it.

"I understand you've been having some issues over the past week, since that news broadcast." One of my eyebrows shot up. Was she serious? She acts like it was some big misunderstanding.

"Miss Henderson? I have a request to make."

"Well what is it? I'll see what I can do."

"I want you to change my name on the school register." I stated bluntly. She dropped her pen in shock.

"That's a tall order Miss Dionysus." I sighed, holding in my frustration.

"That's exactly my point. I want my last name changed to my mother's last name. From now on the school roll will say Jasmine Phantomhive." She stared at me and I met her stare with a glare of my own. Holding her head in her hands she sighed, submitting.

* * *

><p>After School<p>

* * *

><p>I had told Sebastian that I was going to try to walk home today so I heaved my bag on my shoulders and headed off in the direction of home. A man in a black top-hat peeled away from the fence and started following after me.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I spent some time looking up Greek names today for later on in the story. They're pretty odd. It's not a very good cliff-hanger BUT next chapter is where one of the exorcists will show up! I know, you were all about to complain that I was lying when I said it was a crossover, but here's your proof (almost).**


	6. Exorcists?

**A/N: Okay, just to reiterate it now that dgm is finally featuring, I DO NOT OWN KSJ OR DGM! However it would be pretty awesome if I did :P**

* * *

><p>I glanced behind me. The man with the out of place top hat was still after me, the same distance away as he had been last time I checked. Now I was really freaking out, and my neck was tingling fiercely. When I was almost in front of the mansion I looked back one last time. He had stopped moving, and there was something severely wrong with him. My knife wound was throbbing so I clutched my side, hoping it wouldn't open up again. The man was twitching, almost convulsing. Then something completely unimaginable happened. He split in two, revealing a hideous creature floating in his place. I sunk to my knees, not wanting to believe what I was seeing. When the creature began to advance on me once more I closed my eyes and screamed in terror. After a moment silence enveloped me and my neck stopped tingling so I opened one of my eyes. The creature was gone, although I wasn't sure how. I was still in shock and I couldn't bring myself to get up, so it took me awhile to notice that someone was calling out to me.<p>

"Hey are you alright?" I looked up into the eyes of a young white haired boy. "What happened to the Akuma?" he muttered under his breathe.

"The monster disappeared, if that's what you mean by Akuma." I told him, trying to be helpful, "I don't know what happened to it though." There was concern in his grey eyes but he smiled weakly.

"That's good to hear." He straightened up and held his hand out to me. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Allen Walker." I grabbed his hand and he helped me up.

"I'm Jasmine." Allen looked at me expectantly. "Jasmine Phantomhive." I winced as a sharp pain emanated from my side.

"Are you okay Jasmine?" Allen asked, worried, when I stumbled.

"I'm fine." I forced the words out. "Grab my bag will you?" Without waiting to see what he would do I headed unsteadily towards the door, hand clutching my side as blood blossomed on my white shirt. I cried out in alarm when I tripped before someone caught me and picked me up.

"My lady, what have you been doing that would reopen your wound?" I glared up at Sebastian, but he wasn't paying attention to me, instead he was staring at Allen.

"Sebastian, do you know him?" he blinked and looked down at me.

"No, I have never seen him before in my life. We need to re-bandage your wound." Sebastian turned, tailcoats flying, and marched into the house, leaving the door open. Allen hesitated before following us inside. Sebastian placed me on the couch in the sitting room and went to retrieve some clean bandages. I took my blazer and kilt off (I was wearing shorts), not wanting to get blood on them. Allen put my bag on the floor just inside the room and watched from the doorway, eyes full of worry, concern, and something akin to anger. What he was angry about I couldn't tell, but it was none of my concern. Sebastian re-entered the room unnoticed, but was promptly followed by a panicked Erika.

"What happened this time?" she asked, confused. I glared at her and she shut up. Sebastian knelt down on the floor in front of me and proceeded to change the bandage. Allen averted his eyes, which was a strangely courteous thing for a teenage boy to do. I ignored him though, and clenched my teeth when Sebastian pulled the bandages tighter. When he was finished I collapsed unceremoniously on the couch, lying down. Allen chose that moment to actually step foot into the sitting room.

"Do you know who destroyed the Akuma?" he asked, breaking the silence. I glanced at Sebastian, assuming he had done it, but he shook his head.

"I have no idea." I admitted apologetically. "It's a shame really; I would have liked to thank them. That creature, you called it an Akuma? Anyway, it followed me all the way home from school." Allen's eyes widened in shock.

"It targeted you?" he was stunned. I shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess so. Why? Does it mean something?" He frowned and folded his arms.

"Hevlaska would be able to tell us if the Akuma was specifically targeting you." He said quietly before rubbing the back of his head with a gloved hand. "But that would mean a trip to headquarters, and I'm not sure if you're up to it." Glaring at him I pushed myself back into a sitting position.

"I'm not weak." I stated, annoyed. "Tell me where these headquarters of yours are and we'll go." Sebastian glanced at me, surprised.

"Mistress, are you sure?"

"Yes Sebastian, I'm sure. Now Allen, where is it?"

"Central headquarters are in Paris." My eyes widened in surprise.

"Really? All the way over in France? I wasn't expecting that."

"Yeah. Under normal circumstances I would just bring you to the Oceanic branch, but Hevlaska's at central HQ." I blinked.

"Alright then, France it is." I said cheerfully. "So, how are we going to get there?" Allen straightened his black jacket.

"The people I work for have a private jet. We can go tomorrow if you think you're up to it. I've finished my mission here anyway." His last statement intrigued me.

"What sort of mission?" he was fidgeting with his gloves.

"I'm an exorcist." Sebastian stiffened and I shot him a look telling him to behave. "My job is to destroy Akuma like the one that tried to attack you earlier." Suddenly I yawned, out of the blue.

"Sorry, I'm really tired for some reason. Can we talk later?" Using the edge of the couch I climbed to my feet. Sebastian stepped forward to assist me but I waved him off.

"That's fine. Actually, it's probably a good idea. We can talk tomorrow on the plane." When he finished speaking it was as though he'd taken off a mask. Before he had been all business, but now he seemed like a regular teenage guy. I nodded briefly and then remembered something.

"Hey, do you have a place to stay? You're welcome to stay here if you don't; there are plenty of spare rooms." Allen backed up slightly, a nervous look on his face.

"No I wouldn't want to intrude. I'll be back in the morning." He bowed slightly, an odd gesture usually limited to Sebastian, and walked out of the room.

"Oh, okay then." I mouthed, speechless at his sudden departure.

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><p>The next day…<p>

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><p>Sebastian carried my duffel bag downstairs for me while keeping a watchful eye on me to make sure I didn't stumble. Allen was already in the dining room, sitting uncomfortably at the long table.<p>

"Morning." I yawned, taking my usual seat. Picking up a piece of toast I covered it in marmite and started eating it. Allen grabbed four pieces of toast and finished them before I finished my first and only piece. I blinked in surprise. "You sure eat fast." I commented, making him pale.

"Sorry about that." He mumbled to the table. My eyebrows shot up.

"I never said it was a bad thing. You can eat as much as you want, I really don't care." The Raven took my plate away. Allen hesitated for a moment then grabbed four more pieces of toast, quickly devouring them as well.

"I'm finished." He said sheepishly. I stood up and he followed suit.

"Erika, Sebastian and I are going out for a while. You'll have to make up an excuse for school." She looked up from clearing the table.

"What? How long are you going away for?" Sebastian whispered something in her ear and she nodded, straightening up. "Alright then, I'll find a suitable excuse for you young mistress." Allen gave me an odd look. Ignoring him I turned and shuffled stiffly out the door, pausing at the gate. The black haired butler dropped my bag on the ground beside me before he went to get the car.

"Jeez, I don't know what's wrong with me." I complained as I yawned again. "I know I get enough sleep yesterday, so why am I still so tired?" I hadn't been expecting an answer since I was talking to myself, but Allen had a thoughtful expression on his face. The sound of the car engine pulled him out of his train of thought. Covering my mouth with a hand I yawned one more time before grabbing my bag and getting in the back seat. Sebastian frowned as he adjusted the rear view mirror, watching as Allen climbed in the other side. I narrowed my eyes at Sebastian in warning, trying to prevent any mishaps.

The drive to the airport was filled with an uncomfortable silence, causing me to get out my ipod and stare out the window with the music pounding in my ears. Allen seemed rather uncomfortable but with the furious looks Sebastian was giving him he was indeed entitled to feel that way.

"Calm down Sebastian." I ordered him in Greek. Allen turned to me, surprised.

"What language is that?" he asked curiously.

"Greek." I confirmed as Sebastian muttered something distasteful about exorcists under his breath. "I'm serious Sebastian. Control your emotions. He doesn't know anything, and anyway, he's not here for you." I warned him, still in Greek.

"Wow, I don't think anyone at the Order can speak Greek. That's really cool!" Allen smiled, feeling less uncomfortable since we were talking. "Oh hey, take the next left. There's a separate entrance to where the plane is; you don't need to go all the way to the main airport." Sebastian narrowed his eyes, unhappy at having to follow someone else's instructions.

"That's odd." I commented, taking out my earphones. "I never knew there was a separate airfield out here." Sebastian turned the car onto a dirt road that didn't appear to lead anywhere. I wasn't worried though. If something went wrong I had Sebastian with me.

"There it is!" Allen exclaimed, leaning forward and pointing out the front window with his left arm uncomfortably close to the demon's head. Sebastian growled slightly, causing Allen to withdraw his arm. He parked the car sideways, giving me a good view of the jet we were going to be travelling on.

"That's big…" Opening the door I stepped out onto the dirt and stared up at it. Allen walked around the car and stood next to me. A breeze lifted up his fringe and I noticed for the first time the pentacle above his left eye. My mouth dropped open in shock and I quickly covered it with a hand, pretending it was another yawn. Subconsciously my other hand rose up to cover my own pentacle. I followed behind as Allen marched cheerfully up to the jet, only pausing when the plane door opened.

"Come on." He called over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs and entered the plane. I sighed and pulled my hair in front of my face before going inside. Sebastian was waiting for me on the plane. When I stepped inside I was completely overwhelmed. It was completely different to what I was expecting. There were two couches and an assortment of plush recliner chairs (all bolted to the floor of course).

"Jeez, this is flash." I wandered over to one of the couches and sat down, Sebastian sitting next to me. Once we were up in the air I relaxed a bit. "Hey, Sebastian." I started, lying down and putting my feet on his lap. "Can you tell me another story? Maybe one about Ciel or Grell?" He sighed and started telling me about the time when they discovered that Madam Red and Grell were behind the Jack the Ripper serial murders. Allen tried his best to listen in, but whenever there were other people around he would always tell me stories in Greek. "I think I've already heard this one." I muttered, yawning.

"I wouldn't know mistress, you're always asking me to tell you stories, and I've forgotten which ones I've told you and which ones I haven't." I laughed, then turned my head towards Allen.

"I hope this Hevlaska person can answer all my questions. I'm rather at a loss for words myself."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

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><p><strong>AN: Okay in the next chapter we're going to see a lot of new characters introduced into the story! I bet you can already guess who some of them are. Most of them will probably only be in the one chapter though.**


	7. The Black Order

**A/N: Okay so this chapter is kinda random. Oh well. I hope it's alright :)  
>Cookie Scoreboard:<br>Limegreenpandarocket: 1 **

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><p>"Wow, this place is massive!" We had only just passed through the main entrance but I was already impressed. "Where are we again?" Allen sighed, apparently fed up with my short attention span. He'd already told me the name four or five times.<p>

"This is the headquarters for the Black Order." I stared at him, absently rubbing the back of my neck since my birthmark was acting up again.

"The Black Order? That sounds religious. No offence, but I'm an atheist, so don't go around trying to convert me." I warned. He laughed it off, but I wasn't totally convinced.

"Where is everyone?" he wondered out loud. I was thinking the same thing, but I hadn't wanted to say anything in case it was normal. We didn't see a single person until we entered what I assumed was one of the towers. There was a large, empty, circular pit in the centre of the room. Just as I was about to look away a platform rose out of the nothingness.

"What the heck is that thing?" I asked, slightly freaked out.

"That's the elevator." Allen squinted slightly, watching as a tall man with long blue-black hair got off the platform/elevator thing. "Hey, Kanda!" he called suddenly, waving his arm. The man stiffened before turning to face us, revealing that he was carrying a traditional Japanese katana.

"Beansprout." He acknowledged, nodding at Allen. He flushed and clenched his fists by his sides.

"My name is not Beansprout, it's Allen!" he yelled angrily. Kanda shrugged.

"Whatever." He turned to leave but Allen called out after him again.

"Kanda, where is everyone?" Kanda turned his cold eyes back to us, making me shudder.

"They're all downstairs checking out the Arc. Everyone except Komui. He's in his lab, probably building another one of those stupid robots." Allen laughed nervously.

"Is it even safe down there then?" The samurai shrugged uncaringly. I looked over at Allen when Kanda walked off down one of the corridors.

"What's the Arc?" Allen ignored me and climbed out onto the platform. Sebastian picked me up and jumped, landing in the centre. "Quit showing off!" I complained. "I can stand on my own." Rolling his eyes he put me down, reaching out to steady me when I stumbled, tripping on my shoelaces. I glared at him until he backed off, kneeling down to retie my street shoes. When the elevator platform began to descend I sat down hard, not trusting myself to stand while it was moving.

"I would rather just take you straight to Hevlaska if Komui's in his lab." Allen called quietly, thinking. "Unfortunately he's the head of the science division, so I should really talk to him before going down…" he tugged on his white hair.

"This Komui guy sounds a tad mental if you ask me." I commented from where I was sitting cross-legged on the platform, flinching when something gold passed in front of my eyes. "What the hell was that?" The gold thing landed on Allen's head as the platform stopped moving, knocking me off balance.

"There you are Timcampy!" he addressed the golden orb on his head. "Where have you been? I was afraid we might have left you behind." Sebastian helped me up. We followed Allen through a maze of corridors, while the whole time he was engaged in a rather one-sided conversation with Timcampy. After the fifth or sixth corner we emerged into a cluttered, unorganised office space.

"Allen, you're back!" Came a voice from behind a stack of paper.

"Hey, Reever, is Komui around?" There was a frustrated sigh before an arm appeared from behind the mountainous stack.

"He's in there." Reever pointed towards a set of double doors. I walked around the side of what I now recognised as a desk so that I could see Reever.

"Is this Komui person really as scary as he sounds?" I asked him, positioning my feet so that I wasn't standing on any paper.

"I wouldn't say that he was scary. He's just a bit intimidating, depending on the situation." Reever looked up, noticing that he didn't recognise me. "Hey Allen, who's this? Is she a new exorcist?" Sebastian snarled and I spun, telling him to behave. He narrowed his eyes in anger, making me flinch back, slipping on a loose document so that I fell into one of the mountains of paper, causing them to crash down around me.

"Ouch." I doubled over, grabbing my stomach as the shockwave from hitting the floor tore through the cut. There was a bang as the double doors were thrust open, revealing a bespectacled man in a white hat.

"I can't concentrate with all this noise." he whined childishly. "Oh where is my darling Lenalee with my coffee?" Reever rolled his eyes and reached down to help me up.

"The chief has a bit of a sister complex." He warned me. "You get used to it but it's better that you know beforehand."

"Allen, what are you doing here?" Komui asked, having finally noticed we were there.

"I was going to take Jasmine down to Hevlaska, but I figured I should check in with you first." Komui nodded.

"You want to run a synchro-rate test on her? I see. Let's go then." Komui practically ran out of the room, leaving us to try and catch up.

"He didn't mention anything about running tests on you before." Sebastian growled quietly beside me as we followed Allen and Komui deeper into the labyrinth of hallways and rooms. I hesitated for a moment before going through an archway. The room I stepped into was like nothing I had ever seen before. There was only solid ground covering about three quarters of the room, the rest was dark empty space.

"Where are we?" I wondered aloud. Komui walked to the railing.

"Hevlaska, we've brought someone to see you." A massive, opaque creature appeared out of the pitch black, leaning down towards us. I shrieked, stepping back into Sebastian's arms.

"Do not be afraid child." The creature called softly. "I am Hevlaska. Please, come closer." My panicked purple eyes locked onto Allen's grey ones and he nodded encouragingly. Swallowing my fear I took a step away from Sebastian's protective embrace. I took another step, and another, until I was standing next to Komui in front of the railing. Pale tendrils shot out, wrapping themselves around me and lifting me into the air. I squirmed and struggled, desperately trying to break free.

"Please don't struggle. I won't hurt you." I stopped moving and stared defiantly at the creatures face. Hevlaska leaned forward, touching her forehead to my skull. "17… 32… 59…" Hevlaska began rattling off random numbers, confusing me. "70… 83… 88… 91…95… 97… 99… 100…" Hevlaska lowered me to the ground and turned to face Komui. "100. She has a synchro-rate of 100%." Komui gaped, wide-eyed, as the creature turned to me once more. "You are the Bringer of Destruction. When his situation is dire you will be there to assist the Destroyer of Time." The next sentence she addressed to Komui and Allen. "She already has an innocence fragment, but I can sense that it has somehow been sealed, preventing it from being used properly. It would be wise to give her a weapon infused with innocence for the time being." Timcampy flew in circles around my head as Allen processed what had been said.

"The Bringer of Destruction and the Destroyer of Time…" he muttered to himself worriedly.

"That's the first prophecy Hevlaska has made since Allen arrived." Komui commented, trying to break the awkward silence that had filled the stairway. I stopped climbing and turned back to him.

"That was a prophecy? Then who's the Destroyer of Time?" Allen flinched, putting his foot down heavily on one of the steps.

"It doesn't matter." He said darkly, fringe shadowing his eyes. Komui frowned, and I walked up to him, putting my hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it." I tried to reassure him. "There are things in my life that I don't want to talk about either. Destroyer of Time sounds like a heavy burden to bear after all." He tensed under my hand and sighed, straightening up. I backed off slightly, understanding his silent message. Komui cleared his throat, signalling that we should keep walking. Glaring back at him I started to climb the stairs again.

A girl in a short black skirt with long dark blue-green hair was carrying a tray of cups around the science department when we made it back. She turned when she heard our footsteps.

"Welcome back Allen." She called cheerfully, smiling.

"Oh my precious Lenalee!" Komui shoved past us.

"I brought you some coffee brother." She lifted the tray up and held it out to him. He was practically glowing with happiness as he picked up a mug with a pink rabbit on it. I smirked at the ridiculous cup, resisting the urge to laugh. Leaning carefully on the wall behind me I watched the strangely carefree scene which seemed so out of place in the cluttered office. My stomach growled loudly, ruining the moment and making me blush.

"Oh yeah. Allen, take…" Komui paused, trying to remember my name.

"Jasmine." I offered, looking at my feet.

"Yes, well, take Jasmine to the canteen."

"It's okay, I'm fine, really." I protested, before my stomach grumbled again. Lenalee giggled, clutching the now empty tray to her chest.

"If you don't want Allen to show you around how about I take you there?" I shook my head.

"That's not it, I just…" Lenalee linked her arm through mine and pulled me along.

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><p>In the end all three of us made the trek to the canteen. It was the middle of the afternoon so there was hardly anyone around. A tall thin black man leaned out of a window I hadn't noticed, making me jump slightly.<p>

"Allen, good to see you! What'll you be having today?" Allen was silent for a moment before starting off on an impossibly long list. I stared in amazement as the black man listened, nodding cheerfully every now and again.

"What's wrong with him?" I wondered. "I mean I know that neither of us has eaten anything since we left my house but this is getting ridiculous!" Allen finished his list and looked over at me.

"Oh, right. Can I have a bowl of pork ramen?"

"Sure thing honey. Do you want anything else?" I quietly declined his offer for more food and waited with the other two. My ramen came out on a tray whereas Allen received a massive stack of food on a catering trolley.

"Thanks Jerry!" Allen called cheerfully as he wheeled his food over to a table.

"Is he really going to eat all that?" I asked Lenalee as we followed him. "It would be a shame to waste so much food." She grinned at me.

"Don't worry; he really is going to eat all of that."

"No way!" I exclaimed as I sat down, only to notice that Allen had already started scarfing down his food. Pulling my eyes away from him I picked up my chopsticks. I glanced quickly around the table before pushing my hair back behind my ears so that I could eat. Ever since I had seen Allen's pentacle I had been feeling even more self-conscious about my own. Putting that I began to eat, one eye fixed on Allen and his constantly shrinking mountain of food. Somehow we both managed to finish at the same time, leaving me completely dumbstruck.

"You're incredible Allen. Where does all that food even go?" I was genuinely curious. He shrugged almost guiltily before meeting my eyes. I didn't realise what had happened until it was too late. His eyes flicked up to my forehead before I pulled my hair back out to cover it. Lenalee looked from Allen to me, confusion plain in her eyes.

"Jasmine, what's wrong?" I looked down at the floor as she leaned forward, trying to catch my gaze.

"It's nothing." I got to my feet and marched out of the canteen, ignoring them as they called out after me. Since I wasn't paying attention to where I was going I ended up colliding with someone. I rocked back, almost falling until a hand grabbed my shoulder, steadying me. Peering through my fringe I found myself looking up at a cheerful red-headed boy with a single brilliant green eye.

"Hey gorgeous." He smiled, winking at me, making me blush.

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><p><strong>AN: *screams* Ah, Lavi! *coughs* Anyway, I'm going to spend some time focusing on my other story, so this might not get updated for a little while. I'm sad though, no-one's reviewing the chapters, so I don't know if you guys like it or not :(  
>Okay so I'm trying really hard to get a new chapter up, but I'm suffering from some writers block issues.<br>Please review! Don't make Lavi cry.**

**Now that I think about it I'm not even sure why I put in that first kidnapping... It has absolutely nothing to do with anything... Well, plotline or not, it's there and it's officially somehow important :)  
>Mayor: "Of course it's important, I'm in it!" (Yes of course, how could I forget? *coughs awkwardly*) <strong>


	8. Rejection

Recap from the last chapter:

I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, so I ended up colliding with someone. I rocked back, almost falling until a hand grabbed my shoulder, steadying me. Peering through my fringe I found myself looking up at a cheerful red-headed boy with a single brilliant green eye.

Chapter 8 start:

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><p>"Hey gorgeous." He smiled, winking at me, making me blush.<p>

"Hey." He took his hand off my shoulder and held it out to me.

"I haven't seen you around. I'm Lavi." I shook his hand, still blushing madly.

"My name's Jasmine. I'm new around here." He wasn't in any hurry to let go of my hand. Footsteps echoed through the hallway, making me tense as I tried to determine what direction they were coming from. The footsteps appeared to be coming from behind Lavi and I relaxed slightly, knowing it wasn't Allen or Lenalee.

"Lavi, what are you doing hanging around out here?" I cringed, recognising the voice as that crazy sister-complex Komui guy. "Oh, Jasmine, is that you? I was just coming to find you." I pulled away from Lavi, hiding my blazing cheeks.

"Hey chief. I was just talking a breather while gramps looked something up in the library." Komui glanced at him then moved forward so that he was standing directly in front of me before holding out his arm. Sitting in his hand was a katana similar to the one Kanda had been carrying. "Hey that looks like Yu's sword. What are you doing giving it to Jas?"

"Who's Yu?" I asked Lavi as Komui sighed impatiently.

"Never mind that. Jasmine, this is for you to use until your innocence makes itself accessible. You can't kill Akuma with normal weapons, so this katana has an innocence fragment worked into it." My eyes widened in amazement, reaching out and taking the sword in my hands.

"You can do that? That sounds really complicated, but wow. Man, I can only imagine the look on Miss Henderson's face if I came to school carrying a katana! She'd probably have a heart attack." Lavi laughed, leaning on my shoulder as I stared at the katana. Komui frowned slightly at my dreary sense of humour and then walked off back down to his lab. A shadowy figure materialised behind Lavi and I cursed, annoyed. "Sebastian, don't do that! It scares the crap out of me." I complained, causing Lavi to turn, wondering who I was talking to.

"Hey, you're new too! Just how many new exorcists arrived while I was gone?" Sebastian's eyes flashed angrily, offended at being mistaken for an exorcist. I was about to explain the situation when I felt stabbing pains coming from my right arm and the back of my neck.

"Sebastian…" I grabbed his wrist, a dull purple glow emanating from the sleeve of my right arm. Dropping the katana on the floor I cried out. It almost felt like something was travelling up my arm towards my neck. My knees buckled and Lavi and Sebastian both made to support me. Sebastian narrowed his eyes but the red haired exorcist refused to back down.

"We should take her to the infirmary." Lavi started guiding me down the hall, leaving Sebastian no choice but to follow. Sebastian reached down to pick up my forgotten katana, flinching slightly when the innocence reacted to his demonic presence.

"Sebastian…" I called weakly, reaching out to him. He smirked and gently removed me from Lavi's grip, causing the red haired boy to tense up.

"Where are we going then?" Sebastian questioned, picking me up in his arms. Lavi blinked, snapping back to reality. He ran down the hall, taking a left and a right, ending up outside a large door labelled 'Infirmary'.

"Take her in there." He pointed at the door. Just as he was reaching for the door handle the door swung open from the inside, revealing a timid looking woman with black hair.

"O-oh, Lavi." She stammered, getting out of the way.

"Now's not a good time Miranda." Lavi pointed out as Sebastian breezed past them. Doctors surrounded us as Sebastian set me down on one of the beds.

"What's wrong with her?" One of them asked, earning himself a furious glare from the demon. I sat up against the wall and stared desperately into Sebastian's glowing red eyes. My arm quivered, drawing the attention of the doctors. The one who spoke before tried to roll up my sleeve to get a better look and I pulled it away, holding my arm close to my chest. My dark clothed butler had a worried expression in his eyes, a look I had never before seen on him. Lavi watched on worriedly from the opposite wall.

"Miss, we can't help you if you won't cooperate." Turning my pained violet eyes on them I gave the coldest glare I could manage. They all backed off, leaving me and Sebastian by ourselves. He stood up and pulled the curtains shut around the bed.

"Show me your arm." He commanded. I reluctantly stretched out my arm towards him. He rolled up my sleeve, eyes widening in shock. With every minute that passed the pentagram residing on my right arm grew fainter and fainter.

"Sebastian, what's going on?" he shook his head, having no experience in this sort of thing. He pulled the white glove off his hand with his teeth, dropping it when he saw that the pentagram on his own hand was also fading.

"I've never seen anything like this before." He muttered, more to himself than to inform me. I whimpered as I felt the demonic energy from the contract running up my arm and disappearing somewhere near the base of my neck.

"You have to do something!" I cried, fear taking over. He frowned, deep in thought. Shutting up I stayed quiet, waiting nervously for him to have a brain flash. He looked up, pupils slit to the point of near invisibility.

"Hold your arm still mistress, I have an idea." I complied, biting my tongue to stop myself from whimpering. Holding my wrist with one hand he held his other hand up to his mouth and bit his finger, drawing blood.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded; shivering as I saw the substance I hated the most in the world. Ignoring my reaction he held his finger over my arm, letting the blood drip down onto my fading pentagram. "Gross." I murmured, turning away. I heard him sigh in relief, and the strange power drain I had been feeling dropped away into nothingness. Braving a glance at my arm I couldn't find a trace of the demon's blood, meaning that whatever he had tried must have worked. "Thank goodness." Hugging my knees to my chest I breathed deeply, eyelids closing in a sudden wave of exhaustion. Lavi pushed off the wall to hover nervously at the end of my bed.

"Jas, are you okay now?" Wearily opening one eye I glanced up at him.

"Sleepy…" I murmured, closing my eye again. The door swung open, making Lavi jump nearly a foot in the air.

"So this is where you ran off to." Commented a rather short old man, who was wearing black makeup around his eyes.

"Panda! I thought you-" Lavi was interrupted by a flying kick to the head. Sitting up straight I tried to get a better look at the old man. He didn't appear to be particularly strong, but the dent in the wall suggested otherwise. "What did you do that for Gramps?" Lavi whined, rubbing his head. The old man stood over him as he sat on the floor, recovering.

"I found something in the library." Lavi looked up, interested by the sudden development.

"What is it Gramps, what did you find?" he asked, climbing back to his feet.

"We need to go New Zealand." All the colour drained from my face at the old man's announcement. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, suddenly extremely interested in the small hole in the sheets.

"Wasn't Allen just in New Zealand? Don't you think it will be a waste of time to go straight back there?" Carefully I climbed to my feet while Lavi was distracted talking to the old man. Picking up my katana Sebastian followed my lead. "Hang on. Jasmine, did you come over here with Allen?" He asked, turning to my bed only to see I wasn't there anymore. I cringed, scrapping stealth for speed. It would have worked perfectly, if a certain someone hadn't shown up right at that moment.

"Jasmine? What are you doing in the infirmary?" Allen asked, clueless, as he blocked my one and only exit. Looking at the floor I backed up, since it was the only option I had left. He stayed where he was, leaning against the doorframe.

"Allen!" Lavi cried happily, running over to the white haired exorcist and giving him a bone-crushing hug.

"Get off me Lavi!" He complained, squirming uncomfortably. "Bookman, Komui told me you had decided where you were going to head off to next." The old man nodded from across the room. "Are you going to go with them Jasmine?" Lying down on the bed I stared, frustrated, at the ceiling. He just had to say that didn't he.

"Yeah I guess I should. I'm not sure how convincing Erika is when she lies, since I can always see through them. The school's probably starting to get suspicious." I sighed heavily, realising the implications involved in going back to school.

"I contacted the pilot, we'll be leaving tonight." Lavi gaped at Bookman.

"That soon? I'm not ready!" He ran frantically out into the hall and disappeared out of sight. Allen watched him go with an amused expression on his face. Bookman frowned then followed after Lavi, somehow knowing where to go. The teenager stared into space for a minute before blinking his large grey eyes and coming back to reality.

"Are you alright Allen?" I asked, sitting up once more. He looked blankly at me before shaking his head and walking over to a cupboard.

"You need a uniform." He called as he rummaged through the cupboard, looking for something. I frowned at his announcement, not appreciating that they had automatically decided I would be working for them. Allen made a triumphant noise and pulled out a black t-shirt, jacket and pants.

"What, no skirt?" I asked teasingly, remembering Lenalee's incredibly short skirt she had been wearing earlier in the day. He blushed slightly, turning back to the cupboard.

"I thought you'd prefer pants, my mistake." I laughed at the poor boys confusion and snatched up the clothes he had already taken out, holding them up to check out the sizes.

"Don't worry about it, I was kidding." Walking over to the infirmary's bathroom I put them on and checked out the clothes in the mirror. "This is actually a pretty retro uniform. I like it." When I came back out I found a pair of boots sitting at the edge of my bed, with Allen no-where to be seen. "Silver and black combat boots!" I cried happily, black jacket flying as I ran over to them. My socks slid along the tiled infirmary floor, making me zoom past them, arms pin-wheeling to try and keep my balance. Sebastian caught me before I slid out the door and put me on the bed, bringing the boots over to me.

"You shouldn't be so reckless mistress; you're still injured after all." I blushed with embarrassment at being scolded by the black clad demon. Picking the boots up I put them on. They went almost up to my knees, which surprised me since I'd never had any boots that tall. The boots fit perfectly. In fact, everything fit perfectly. Cocking my head to one side I tried to figure out how on earth Allen had been able to do that, correctly guessing the right sizes. In the end though it didn't really matter, so I marched off towards the main entrance, leaving Sebastian to deal with the clothes I'd left behind.

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><p><strong>AN: For some reason this chapter took me ages to write. Not to mention the fact I probably should have been spending the time studying, but what can I say? Writing's more interesting than studying for a maths exam :P**

**Okay so her little spaz attack in this chapter doesn't appear to have any relevance, and it won't, not for a while. Eventually though, once I get that far, it's significance will be revealed.**

**Emma: "Shouldn't she be more careful? She has a gaping wound in her side."**

**Me: "True, true. I guess she's just stubborn? It's still there at any rate, it hasn't miraculously healed (YET)" ^.^**

**Sebastian: "What are you getting at?"**

**Me: "Calm down Sebas-chan, it's a secret." Turns to the readers "I'm waiting for your reviews everyone"**


	9. Research attempts

Okay so here's the thing. Yes, the Order might have a private jet and yes, it might be super fancy, but let's just say I was starting to get sick of airplanes. You might say I'm being stupid. True, this is only the second time I'd ever been in one, but it was not an experience I had enjoyed much so far. Being able to stretch out and sleep away the flight on a couch was fine and all, but while I was awake it was incredibly awkward. I couldn't think of anything to say to Lavi, and I didn't want to try talking to Sebastian in case Bookman knew Greek. It was an awful dilemma, and so for the five or so hours that I wasn't asleep for I spent my time staring up at the ceiling of the plane wishing I hadn't woken up.

When Bookman found out I lived in New Zealand he decided that the first place they should check out was my hometown. Apparently it saved them having to pick a town. In my opinion it felt more like he wanted to keep an eye on me.

I was asleep again when we started the descent into the airport, so I freaked out when I woke up, thinking we were going to crash and die. Lavi laughed at my reaction, causing me to get mad at the incredibly cute red head.

Sebastian had insisted on driving, since the only other person with a licence was Lavi, and he didn't seem like he'd be the best driver in the world. That left me stuck with him in the back seat of the car. Lavi was distracted though, as soon as we had got in the car he pulled a laptop out of his bag and started doing stuff. He didn't have any headphones though, and I winced when a stream of angry Greek flowed out of the speakers.

"Can you mute that or something? It'll probably have subtitles if it's gone viral." He looked over at me, saw my expression and quickly complied.

"So it is you then?" he asked, eyes glued to the screen as he read the subtitles. I began to nod, before realising that he wasn't looking.

"You could have just asked you know. You didn't have to go about googling me." He shrugged. "Hey, can I borrow that after you?" I asked out of the blue.

"Sure." He handed it over to me without a second thought. "The video was finished anyway." Giving him a suspicious look I took the laptop and logged into my email. There was an email from an address I didn't recognise, along with over twenty from Facebook. I smiled bitterly and opened the message from the unknown sender.

"_Dearest Jasmine, I am inclined to believe you are telling the truth, as you have nothing to gain by lying. I am delighted to hear that I have other grandchildren, for it seemed rather lonely to only have one. How is my dear Baltasar? I haven't heard from him in quite some time. The photos are wonderful, thank you for sending them to me. I would have believed you even without them, but it was a nice gesture. Although I am reluctant to mention unpleasant things in this message I feel I must once more apologise for getting you caught up in the political problems of our country. I say 'our' for it is as much your country as it is mine. I would very much like for you to come and visit us one day and, if it's possible, for you to bring the rest of your family along with you. I must admit that I've never written an email before, so this is a new experience for me. I have yet to tell your grandfather about your letter, I think it would be a nice surprise for him if you ever decide to visit. Love from Thaleia Dionysus."_ I smiled sadly as I finished reading the email. It was wrong of me not to tell her of my father, her son's, death, but I felt it was something that should be explained face to face. I quickly deleted all the Facebook emails, logged off and handed the computer back to Lavi. He immediately went back to typing, which I tuned out, instead staring out the window.

"Seriously?" he muttered to himself, not realising I could hear him. I turned around and leaned over to see what he was doing. What I didn't expect was for him to be looking at my emails.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked menacingly. "I know I logged out properly."

"Sorry, I was just curious." Glaring at him I logged out once more.

"Curiosity killed the cat, or so they say." He cringed at the threatening tone of my voice.

"Okay, okay, I get it. No more spying on your emails." More or less satisfied I let him go back on his computer.

"No spying on me full stop." He nodded, allowing me some peace of mind. He seemed like a decent guy. Well okay, email hacking isn't exactly decent but he at least didn't seem like the type of person who easily went back on his word. Guys are funny like that, always talking about pride and such. "Lavi," I asked suddenly, "Why is Bookman's name Bookman?" He glanced over at me and shrugged.

"I guess he doesn't believe in names, or something like that." I frowned, what a lame answer.

"Whatever." I turned back to the window and put in my earplugs, turning on my i-pod.

* * *

><p>Time skip…<p>

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><p>I ran up the stairs in my brand new combat boots and flopped down on the couch in my bedroom. Sebastian was downstairs dealing with getting my bag from the car to my room, and he was taking his time with it. Having slept for nearly fourteen hours on the plane I was wide awake and had an excessive amount of energy.<p>

"I don't even know what time it is!" I giggled, staring at the ceiling. "Erika!" I called loudly. Her footsteps echoed up the stairs.

"Do you want me to get something for you?" She asked as she came in the doorway. I shook my head lazily.

"No, I just wanted to ask you something. Do I have to go to school tomorrow?"

"Well tomorrow is Tuesday so yes, school is on, but you don't need to go if you're not feeling up to it."

"No, I should probably go. There's nothing to gain from skipping too many days." With that said Erika left the room and I grabbed my laptop and the manila folder containing details on my human trafficking friends. I logged into my email for the second time that day and opened up a blank email.

"_Don't worry, visiting will definitely be up there on my to-do list now. I have to ask you a question. Is there anything in Greek culture or mythology about pentacles? Are they bad things or good things? I know it's a weird thing to ask, but I'm curious. Thanks anyway, Jasmine._" That question had been nagging me ever since I heard the translation of what that Ruma guy was saying. Something about them not wanting me back. I was feeling far too bubbly to sit around dwelling on what that bastard said though, so I climbed out onto the balcony with the folder and decided to do some research on that Tony Furtelli fellow. There was something I really didn't like about the guy, and it didn't have anything to do with his hobbies. I typed Furtelli into the Google search engine and hit enter.

"Oh crap! That's going to take forever to go through." I whined after seeing the thousands of hits. Picking up the folder I decided I might as well read what Sebastian had found before trying to sort through the thousands of sites.

"Wah, that's not helpful at all!" I cried a bit too loudly, causing the neighbour to yell through the fence at me.

"Can it Dionysus! Quit making such a ruckus."

"Good afternoon to you too old man Jenkins!" I yelled back at him bitterly. Biting my lip in frustration I turned back to the laptop and typed 'Tony' in the search engine before 'Furtelli'. This time there was only a few hundred hits. After I spent some time checking random links I eventually found something vaguely useful. It turns out that he had been in prison a few times, but honestly that didn't surprise me in the least. What confused me was why the stupid mayor would hire someone with such an impressive criminal record as his head of security. Closing down my laptop I decided not to dwell on trying to work out how Anthony's mind works and instead climbed back into my room.

"Gah, this is totally not cool!" I was officially bored out of my mind. Standing up I walked over to the bed and picked up my new katana, checking its weight in my hands. "This is seriously weird." I murmured as I turned it over. Gripping the handle I swung it through the air a few times, grinning. "I sure never thought I'd end up with something like this." I wandered over to my wardrobe and knelt down on my knees, removing the false bottom and placing the katana in the hidden compartment before replacing the flooring.

"I knew that weird compartment would come in useful one day. If only I had known what for." My thoughts were making me depressed and a dark aura had seeped into the room, a reflection of my emotions.

"Things never seem to happen quite as you imagine they would." Sebastian commented from the doorway, having walked past while I was busy muttering to myself. "You're whole life is a testament to that fact. I'm not complaining though, I was beginning to get bored." Glaring at him I got to my feet.

"A crow getting bored? I didn't think it was possible. That reminds me. Didn't Ciel order you to be his butler forever? How on earth did you get out of that?" It was the demon's turn to glare, his eyes narrowed in frustration at my prying question.

"After seventy or so years one begins to grow bored with their present company. He dismissed me, freeing me to pursue other souls." I smirked. That was so like my uncle, tossing people aside when they were no longer of any use to him.

"I suppose you're implying that it was a mutual agreement for you to part ways? I know it wasn't, but you didn't really get a say now did you." I was teasing him now. In all honesty I hadn't expected him to answer my question in the first place, considering it hadn't been a direct order. He normally takes advantage of that sort of thing when he feels like with-holding information or just plain pissing me off. Sebastian's eyes were angry but he had an amused smirk on his face. It surprised me really, since he was normally so adept at hiding his emotions.

"Well then mistress," he began, suddenly turning formal on me again. "I shall begin the dinner preparations now." The smirk still playing on at the corner of his mouth he turned and marched silently down the hallway.

"He is such a show-off. It really gets on my nerves sometimes." Shaking my head I rummaged around in my drawers until I found a pair of pyjamas and a clean roll of cloth. Taking them with me I dragged my feet into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I turned the shower on and dumped my new exorcist clothes on the floor next to the sink (A/N: Don't get any weird ideas). Climbing into the steaming stream of water I let it wash away my jetlag and the grime I could imagine had appeared over my time away. I had to be wary of how much water I let soak into my current bandage, because I couldn't afford to have it coming off before I got out. After I spent a glorious ten or fifteen minutes under the hot water I turned it off and climbed out. I quickly dried off and got dressed before sitting down to deal with changing the bandage around my stomach. When I pulled at the tape strips holding it on I grimaced as they clung to my skin. Once they were gone I hesitantly unwrapped the old bandage, revealing the slowly healing stab wound. By some miracle I had managed to avoid irritating it too much, meaning that I hadn't interrupted the healing process. Tearing my gaze off of the ragged red edges of the cut I wrapped the fresh cloth around my torso, secured it in place and yanked my singlet down over it.

"One of these days…" I murmured quietly as I gazed down at the dully glowing purple mark on my arm, making my neck tingle. "One of these days something will finally go my way."

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><p><strong>AN: Wow, I didn't expect to get any more chapters up for a while. I was kinda stuck for ideas so some of it seems kinda filler-ish. I'd really appreciate hearing your opinions about the story so far, so feel free to review or PM me. I probably won't be able to update again until after September 21****st****, so don't get too mad if nothing comes up.**


	10. Arguments

**A/N: So I guess I lied, updates will be as sporadic as usual. I guess that just goes to show how much effort I actually put into studying.**

* * *

><p>People seemed to be avoiding me like the plague, making me have second thoughts about ever letting Erika make up excuses for my absences again. Emma and Mary honestly seemed like the only people in the entire school who were glad I was back. I felt like I had missed something though, because they kept having whispered conversations and sending secretive glances my way when they thought I wasn't paying attention. Eventually I got rather fed up with their behaviour and confronted them.<p>

"Is there something you ought to be telling me?" I asked cheerfully, voice holding barely a hint of a threat. Emma shuddered slightly, having known me long enough to know that when I put on my fake happy act something was seriously wrong. Mary giggled, completely unaware of the frighteningly dark vibes I was radiating.

"Don't get mad at us, but we signed you up for the talent show." She grinned as though all was well in the world while Emma made a motion as though she were shooting herself. Mary wasn't nearly skilled enough at reading my moods to be able to tell what things shouldn't be said.

"Is that so… Normally one would ask the person being nominated before nominating them, no?" I was smiling but my voice was laced with venom, making Emma shrink back into her seat.

"But we were certain you would say no!" I rolled my eyes while Emma mimed the universal sign for don't do it or shut up right now.

"What if I say no anyway?" I had absolutely no intention of participating in any school events that I could avoid. My time was no longer my own, and I didn't even know how much longer I'd be around for. Even now, I had a new attachment, another drain on the unknown amount of time left in my life. Being an exorcist, I still wasn't sure how well that was going to work out. I didn't even know when I would be called out on my first mission. Surely I didn't have any time to waste on a stupid talent show.

"Don't be like that Jas. What's so wrong with doing this one thing?" Mary had still been talking when I spiralled off into my thoughts and I glared at her angrily. She didn't know anything. Emma could tell I was getting mad and she tried to intervene.

"Look, you don't have to do it. It's fine if you refuse." She gave Mary a pointed look but she obviously wasn't ready to give up.

"Don't be nice Emma, she needs to do this." The book dropped from my hands and I shot to my feet, eyes glazed over with anger. I needed to have a breather; I needed to get away from them, away from the source of my roiling emotions. Kilt flying I spun and stormed out of the gate, slumping against the fence once I was out there. The teachers had gotten used to my outbursts and knew I wasn't going to actually leave school so they didn't bother checking on me.

"Mortals can be so tactless sometimes." I muttered as I sat on the pavement, hugging my knees to my chest. A shadow fell over my face and I glared up, only to find I was seeing red, literally.

"Mortals can indeed be tactless, but they can also be extremely interesting." The shinigami pulled back and turned, leaning against the fence beside me as the sun blinded me. I shielded my eyes with one arm and tugged on his red cloak with my other hand.

"Grell, people can see you, right?" The shinigami nodded, looking at me curiously to see where I was going with it. "One of these days Miss Henderson is going to call the police on you." He stiffened.

"Why would anyone want to do that?" I smirked, oddly glad to have the reapers company, to be around something supernatural that I could rant and rave to.

"A strange man hanging around an all-girls school? Face it Grell. As far as she's concerned you're either a rapist or a paedophile." I laughed as he made a disgusted grimace, glaring at me. "I take it that girl still hasn't died yet, otherwise you wouldn't be here." Judging by his grim expression I had hit the nail on the head, so to speak.

"I don't know why he won't tell me! This really isn't the nicest place to be hanging around every day anyway." He was pouting again and had his arms folded across his chest.

"I know what you mean, I hate it here too. I would offer to talk to Will for you, but I'm afraid he likes me even less than he likes you, so it wouldn't do much good." Grell glanced at me curiously.

"You've met Will before?"

"Oh hell no. I just know instinctively that he won't like me. He didn't like Ciel very much after all, and not only am I connected to the same demon, but I'm related to Ciel as well. You're the only person I know who isn't judgemental about me for some reason or another." I heard voices calling my name and I turned my head towards the gate. Emma and Mary were standing there with the teacher on duty, who refused to let them go over to me.

"Are those your friends?" Grell asked, following my gaze.

"Something like that." I mumbled, climbing to my feet. I turned my back on them for a moment, just to make them mad, and smiled up at Grell. "Good luck with your assignment." I would've said mission, but for some reason that word just didn't seem right anymore. He nodded and I turned around and walked painstakingly slowly back to the school entrance.

"For god's sake Jasmine! I know you can walk faster than that!" Emma cried as my imitation of slow motion started driving her insane. I smirked and she let out a sigh of relief which went unnoticed by Mary.

"I've made up my mind." I announced when I reached them. "I will go along with your little farce for now. I assume there are auditions? I shall go to them, but I am not in any way guaranteeing that I will be successful." I winked at Emma and she smiled weakly, sometimes Mary just didn't know when to leave well enough alone. Together we walked back over to the bench and gathered up our stuff, ready for our next class.

* * *

><p><strong>After School…<strong>

* * *

><p>Once classes were over I felt an odd urge to go to the playground on the way home. I was walking by myself and when I passed by the entrance my feet turned and starting walking across the grass instead of up the street. When I reached the swings I sat down in one of them and waited. I wasn't sure what I was waiting for, but my question was soon answered when Ciel came into view on my right.<p>

"Going for a walk are we?" I asked him. He started slightly, not having noticed I was there.

"This town is pretty boring. There's nothing to do." He commented, sitting on the swing next to me. I grinned, bag left abandoned on the field off to my left.

"It's funny really. You haven't been here very long yet you already hate it. Grell hates it here too. He told me so this morning." The young boy frowned, his toes brushing the grass.

"Why do you even talk to that perverted shinigami? You do know that he's obsessed with Sebastian, don't you?" I watched the clouds race by in the sky.

"I know he's weird and all, but he's interesting. And it's really none of my business if he likes Sebastian. I couldn't care less. Sooner or later I'll be gone anyway, so there's no point in worrying about silly things like that." Ciel stared at me, an expression of confusion mixed with disgust plain on his face.

"I really don't understand how your mind works." I smirked at his confession.

"I'd be worried if you did. I'm from the 21st century and you're from Victorian England. Plus, guys are never supposed to know how a girls mind works. That would take all the fun out of life." I honestly never thought I'd be saying something like that to my uncle, and never in a million years had I imagined even talking to my great great uncle. Especially since he was supposed to have died when he was thirteen.

"You're just as confusing as Elizabeth. Every time you open your mouth all I hear is nonsense." I paled slightly at his mention of his fiancée Elizabeth, but he didn't seem to notice.

Something tugged at the edge of my vision and I looked up to see a young man wandering across the field towards us. My right eye twitched and I could tell that something was wrong about the man. To an untrained eye he might seem like a normal person, but there was something about him, something that set me on edge. I could almost see death floating around him like a veil, although when I closed my right eye it disappeared. Ciel saw my panicked expression and followed my gaze across the grass.

"What's wrong?" I couldn't tell if he actually cared or not, but now wasn't the time to be pondering such things.

"We need to move." I stood up and walked around so that I was behind the swings, never once taking my eyes off the man. He gave me an odd look but followed my lead, excepting the fact that I knew something he didn't. The man continued his advance and I backed away, trying to keep the same distance between us. Ciel's pupils narrowed to slits and his eyes glowed a demonic red.

"His soul is warped." He whispered, astonished and horrified. I spared a glance at him, not entirely surprised that the demon could tell something was wrong.

The man was a metre away from the swings when he stopped, shuddering. The air rippled and I saw the one thing I was dreading. His head split open and the Akuma quickly ditched its human container.

"What the hell is that?" My eyes widened in fear and I grabbed Ciel's arm, making sure he didn't try to approach it. I dropped to my knees, the sight of the hideous creature still getting the better of me the second time around. The Akuma began a slow, almost mocking, approach. The closer it got the more I felt the urge to scream, but I was in shock and could barely move my mouth, let alone make any noise. A large shadow eclipsed the Akuma and the swing set as something massive came ever closer to the ground. I closed my eyes as something smashed into the ground, causing a shockwave to ripple through the grass and knock me over. When I sat back up I opened my eyes and saw an enormous black hammer sticking out of the ground. As my gaze travelled up I saw a familiar red head standing on top of it, holding on to the handle.

"Lavi?" I called quietly, almost not wanting to believe it. He turned when he heard my voice and grinned.

"What are you doing sitting around like that?"

"I can't fight it, my katana's at home." His smile faltered slightly and he jumped to the ground, his hammer shrinking as he did. There was a large crater in the field, but the Akuma had managed to avoid the attack. Lavi frowned and started swinging his hammer over his head, chanting. A symbol appeared under the Akuma and it burst into flames, screaming in agony. I clutched my head as the creatures dying shrieks embedded themselves in my mind. My face was damp and I realised I was crying. Standing up I scrubbed at my eyes with the back of my hand.

"Your katana really isn't of any use to you if you're not going to bring it with you." He commented, trying to help Ciel to his feet. The young demon refused his help and moved to stand next to me. "Who's the kid?" I froze, thinking of something to tell him. When Ciel was about to say something I took the initiative. I had no idea what he was going to say.

"He's my cousin. I'm babysitting him today, so that's why I don't have my katana." Lavi nodded thoughtfully.

"You have a pretty good point there." He put his hammer, which had shrunk to a fraction of the size it had been earlier, into his pocket and turned towards the entrance to the park. "I'll walk you home."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm not really sure where the talent show came from... I guess it's going to end up kinda side storyish, but it will lead into their next mission, so it's not too off topic, I hope...**


	11. School Blues

Ciel sat uncomfortably beside me on the couch in my sitting room. Lavi was sitting on one of the armchairs across the room. When we had reached my house Lavi had insisted that we needed to talk, so now Ciel was stuck playing the role of younger cousin. Sebastian had positioned himself behind the couch, since he had taken an immense dislike to Lavi, even greater than the hatred he felt towards Allen simply because he was an exorcist.

"You say that's the second time you've been targeted by the Akuma this week?" I nodded slowly, knowing that Ciel was glaring at me since he didn't know what we were talking about.

"I really wish my katana could shrink like your hammer, then I wouldn't have to worry about how to take it with me." I was purposely trying to change the subject, bit by bit, because it wasn't something I really wanted to go in to too much detail about around Ciel. Sebastian cleared his throat menacingly and I glared back at him. Erika was spying from the doorway, making me slightly uncomfortable.

"Erika, in or out, what's it going to be?" The maid flinched and stepped into the room, looking rather guilty.

"Hey, I didn't see you there." Lavi's manner changed completely. Barely a second ago he had been serious and now he sounded oddly flirtatious, just like when he first ran into me. I frowned. Surely he was eighteen, max, and yet here he was flirting with Erika, a 25 year old woman. I blushed and looked away, suddenly unsure of what was going on in my head. There was no way in hell that I was jealous. Maybe I was just annoyed because he would rather flirt than talk business, no matter how much I had been trying to avoid it.

"Hey, look at the time." I cried in fake astonishment, making a big show out of checking my phone. "Your mum's probably waiting outside for you as we speak." Ciel nodded in understanding and his eyes filled with relief. He was still trying to get over his encounter with the Akuma. Pushing off the couch he murmured goodbye to everyone, an unnecessary gesture, but he was still playing a part after all. After that he swiftly left the room, doing that eerily silent walk those demons were so skilled at.

"Shouldn't someone go with him?" Lavi asked, snapping out of his daze. I glared at him and he actually flinched, surprising me.

"That Akuma today, it looked different to the first one I saw." I brought up the one subject I had been purposely avoiding. He scratched his head and the serious glint returned to his eyes.

"But the one from today was a level one, and they all look the same." I cocked my head to one side, listening intently.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but doesn't that just mean the one I saw wasn't a level one?" Lavi looked up at me, worry plain in his green eye. For some reason his eye patch didn't creep me out, although the pictures of Ciel wearing his own eye patch always bothered me.

"Did it speak to you?" I shook my head, not really understanding why he would ask such an odd question. "At least it wasn't a level four then." He seemed to gaze off into space, as though he was remembering something, and the room was enveloped in silence. Several minutes passed and when Lavi remained quiet I decided we needed to stop talking about Akuma, since it had obviously brought back a bad memory.

"Hey, let's call it quits for tonight, okay? Bookman's probably wondering where you ran off to anyway." He glanced up and grinned, although it was a bit forced.

"Yeah, that's true. The old panda will be mad when I come back if he figures out I've been slacking off." He climbed to his feet and I did the same. A real grin flashed across his face. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He assured me, motioning for me to sit back down.

"Whatever you say." I replied cheerfully, sitting back down on the couch. "Erika will see you out." The maid blushed and I rolled my eyes. Lavi will never cease to amaze me, no-one has ever made Erika blush before. The two of them left the room and walked towards the front of the house.

"I don't trust him." Sebastian murmured from behind me. Turning I got up on my knees on the couch so that I was facing him.

"You're too tense. It's because he's an exorcist that you distrust him isn't it? You have no real need to worry. I have plenty of proof that the demons they hunt have nothing to do with you or the real demons. Akuma are completely different creatures, although it's odd that you were never around when they attacked…" He narrowed his red eyes at me, trying to make me uncomfortable, but I ignored him. "Anyway, neither Allen nor Lavi nor Komui or anyone else for that matter made any signs of thinking you were any less human than anyone else. That means they don't have the faintest inkling of what you really are." His eyes glowed brightly with demonic energy and I climbed off the couch to move away from him.

"However true that might be, it doesn't change the fact that those so-called exorcists make me uncomfortable." My eyes widened in shock. Sebastian, admitting to such a human emotion? "There is only one person that worries me more than they do." I grinned, knowing the answer.

"Yeah yeah, Grell Sutcliffe right? Ciel was saying the same thing earlier today." A smirk tugged on Sebastian's lips.

"You really are a strange mortal, taking everything so lightly. Not only has your life been filled with misfortunes, but now you are plagued by demons, shinigami, exorcists and these strange Akuma creatures." I shuffled backwards until I reached the doorway.

"And that's exactly the reason why nothing surprises me anymore." I added cheekily before turning and running up to my room.

* * *

><p>Sitting down on the middle of my bed I flipped open my laptop and logged into my email. There was one which caught my eye. I didn't recognise the sender address but the title was <strong>MISSION BRIEFING<strong>, so I decided to read it first. It turned out to be from Allen, which now that I thought about it was kind of obvious.

"Jasmine, sorry to force this on you so suddenly but Komui thought this would be a good mission to start you off on. You'll be going with Lavi, so that when you leave will be more or less determined by Bookman. Komui and Reever are both trying to contact him as I'm writing this, but so far they haven't been able been able to get through. Anyway, about the mission, we were contacted with a rather unusual request for security. It's not exactly the sort of thing that we would normally take on, but they are willing to pay a lot and Komui thought it would be a good job for your first mission. It's in Greece, they want security for a celebration. It may be unorthodox, but some countries are rather tight lipped about abnormal attacks, so we don't know for sure whether there have been Akuma sightings in the area or not. My best guess is that you'll be leaving for Greece within a week. Good luck, Allen. P.S. Do you think you could pass this on to Lavi for me?" I smirked, thinking.

"Greece huh? That's pretty good timing really." Rolling my shoulders I shut down the computer and put it away in my laptop bag. "I can't wait."

* * *

><p>The next day…<p>

* * *

><p>Emma had informed me that the auditions for the talent show were going to be today at lunch time, so when the bell rang I trudged along to the hall to wait my turn. My thoughts were mostly focused on the email I had gotten from Allen and the conversation with Lavi, so I completely forgot about my plan to self-sabotage my audition. I even chose a song I wasn't particularly good at, just in case I got distracted. Unfortunately though, since my mind was wandering, I ended up singing it the best I ever had.<p>

"Jasmine, that was incredible!" I looked up, realising that the audition was over.

"Really?" My mind filled with curses. I wasn't supposed to do a good job, I was supposed to suck.

"I can't wait to have you perform in the show. We almost never get people singing anymore." CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP! That's not what I wanted.

"Sounds good." I said, pasting a big fake cheerful smile on my face.

"The show's tomorrow evening and there'll be a meeting about it at lunch tomorrow." My eyebrows shot up. I hadn't expected it to be so soon. If it had been later then I still could have gotten out of it.

"Alright." Screaming internally I walked calmly outside, kicking the door frame on the way out and swearing when I actually hurt my toe. Mary's face lit up when I sat down beside Emma.

"How'd it go Jas?" She asked cheerfully. I glared angrily at her and Emma flinched, as usual being the only one to notice.

"Hey, that's great news." Emma called quietly, holding her hands up in a silent apology. Mary's grin got even wider when she heard that.

"You got in? Awesome, I knew you could do it!" Ignoring Mary I reached into my lunch box and pulled out an apple and a knife. Glaring at them I started to dissect the apple. It was something my therapist had taught me, it was supposedly to help me calm down. Mind you, I never actually needed a therapist, but when I turned up at school after being absent for months on end the principal had decided to send me to one. Ms Briggsby realised on the first day that I wasn't going to open up to her, and on the second day she discovered my wicked temper. The school was paying her, so she would tell them I was making progress and keep taking their money. I didn't mind, it wasn't my problem. Telling a person that a good way to control their anger would be through stabbing fruit? Now that I look back on it I'm starting to think that maybe she didn't really know what she was doing. It seemed like a pretty sure-fire way to breed murderers.

I paused with the knife barely an inch away from the apple. Breeding murderers? Suddenly the idea didn't seem absurd at all. Carefully I put the knife away in my lunch box and took a bite of the remaining apple.

"Something wrong Jas?" Ahh Mary, innocent naïve Mary. Emma was too shocked to even stop her, since she hadn't seen me resort to the apple trick in two years. Today however, it didn't calm me down, it only made me focus on something else. If you could breed murderers, then it wouldn't be such a stretch to train people to erase murders, making them seem like they never happened. And that means…

"I see what their game is now…" I muttered to myself, crushing the apple core in my fist. There must have been some professional clean up team working my parent's murder, because while I definitely saw it, no-one else, not even the police, have any record of it ever happening. I knew something was up when Sebastian failed so many times to find information about the murder. I stood up suddenly, dropping my apple core on the cobblestones.

"Is something the matter?" Mary asked again curiously. I ignored her and stared determinedly up at the cloudless blue sky. It may not exactly be a new lead, but I had found a renewed interest in finding out not only who killed my parents, but why. Someone was purposely covering it up, and even after 3 years they still hadn't let anything slip. I decided then and there to rise to the challenge and make whoever was responsible grovel at my feet.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So guys, I know right, a talent show. Why? Well I got kinda bored, so it's partially side storyish but also vaguely important. **  
><strong>Not too much longer until they go to Greece either :)<strong>  
><strong>Yup, Jasmine had to go to therapy after her kidnapping (not that the school knew she was kidnapped), but face it, what good did that do? <strong>**  
>Anyway, reviews please! It would be nice to have the opinion of a stranger as opposed to my mates being overly nice about it :P <strong>


	12. The Talent Show

**A/N: Gomenasai minna-san for the late upload. School's a pain yadda yadda, you know the story.**

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><p>I stormed through the empty school hallways, muttering to myself the whole time. When I had gotten home yesterday I had dragged Sebastian to the study to tell him about what I had discovered. He listened to my sudden revelation with a tell-tale smirk on his lips and a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.<p>

"Stupid demon, of course he already knew! He can't lie to me, but that doesn't mean he has to tell me everything." He was taking advantage of the loopholes, and I was furious at myself for not noticing it sooner. When I looked up I found myself in the hall, and I wondered briefly why I was there.

"Oh Jasmine, there you are. Good, now we can get started." The teacher waved me over to the group of people up by the stage. I remembered now, why I wasn't outside, why I had come in here in the first place. The meeting for the show. The same teacher from before, who I had never seen before yesterday, held up a black hat.

"Everyone will get a turn to grab a slip of paper out of the hat. The numbers on the paper will correspond to what order the performances will be in." Everyone lined up. I ended up with the number 4.

"Is that all?" I asked, bored, once everyone had their numbers. They all looked at me and I shrugged.

"Well yeah, that's pretty much it. Remember though, the show starts at 7pm, but we want you all here by 6:30pm." I waved my hand absently.

"Sure, whatever." With the other contestants glaring daggers at me I turned and wandered quietly back outside. "That's right. It's a competition. They all want to win, and I don't even care. No wonder they were so mad." I bit my thumb nail, thinking of a better way to act in front of the others.

* * *

><p>That evening…<p>

* * *

><p>It took me ages to find somewhere to sit, since I wanted to keep my bag with me. I'd brought my katana along with me, and it was sitting in my sports bag, along with a puffer jacket to hide it. Eventually I had settled with one of the seats at the edge of the row beside the stage.<p>

I watched in relative silence as the three performers before me got up on stage. One girl was singing, and everyone was singing along. Another girl was doing magic tricks, making me roll my eyes in irritation. The third act was a girl doing a tap dancing routine. I never did understand the attraction of tap. And then it was my turn.

"Next up we have Jasmine Phantomhive." The girl, I think her name was Hannah, signalled for me to come up on the stage. A wave of pain washed over me from my stomach when my foot came down on the bottom step. It was a mixture of nerves and also the fact that I had stomped down too hard, causing my cut to protest. When I reached centre-stage Emma and Mary started screaming encouragement at me. I glared in their direction. It was their fault I was up here in the first place. The door at the back of the hall swung open as the music started, revealing a red headed boy with a green eye. I froze up. _What is he doing here?_ Closing my eyes I focused on the music, waiting for the cue to start singing. Taking a deep breath I opened my eyes again and looked over the crowd.

"As lucid as the dream,  
>Where you wake behind the wheel.<br>Strange that you should feel,  
>Paralysed.<br>The dream where you can fly,  
>And you rise above your hometown,<br>And tell them they can keep,  
>Their gravity."<p>

The crowd was silent, with the exception of Emma and Mary, who were still screaming at me. I smiled, their reaction was so different from the first singer. No-one had ever heard the song before, and it was exhilarating.

"Are you wide awake?  
>Caught in the crossfire, caught in the crash.<br>Are you wide awake?  
>Born in the crossfire, living the crash."<p>

"As lucid as the punch,  
>You're throwing in slow-motion.<br>A fist you cannot lift.  
>A fight you cannot win.<br>And would you really die,  
>If you hit the bottom?<br>If the ground didn't wake you up,  
>In the falling dream."<p>

"Smashing your way through the looking-glass.  
>Fantasy can still be razor-sharp,<br>For you."

"For you who wanted everything,  
>You who promised everything."<p>

"Something followed you back,  
>And woke up in the crash.<br>Somehow, followed you out of your domain.  
>Something followed you back,<br>Out through the looking-glass,  
>Somehow bringing a cloud of the surreal."<p>

"Are you wide awake?  
>Caught in the crossfire caught in the crash.<br>Are you wide awake?  
>Born in the crossfire living the crash.<br>Now are you,  
>Are you wide awake now?<br>Now are you,  
>Are you wide awake now?<br>Are you wide awake now?"

The music ended and the crowd erupted with applause. I was completely taken aback by their reaction. Since my performance was over I made to get off the stage but the two hosts came up and told me to stay.

"Wow that was amazing wasn't it?" Hannah addressed the crowd and they all cheered in agreement. "So, are you in the choir?" I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak. "What about singing lessons?"

"I haven't had any." I muttered quietly. Hannah's eyes widened.

"Seriously, no lessons? I think the choir teacher will be tracking you down." She whispered that I could leave, which I did gladly as they announced the next performer. I snuck out of the side door into the hallway and slumped against the wall, catching my breath. Reaching into the pocket of my black jeans I pulled out my phone and checked the time. Noise flowed into the hall as another door opened. Looking up I saw Lavi walking towards me. I shoved my phone back into my pocket as he calm over and leant against the wall opposite me.

"You were pretty good out there." He grinned. I met his gaze for a second before looking away, blushing slightly. I was trying to think of a witty comeback when I was attacked from the side by my crazy mental mates Emma and Mary.

"You were awesome up there!" Emma cried, jumping up and down.

"It was amazing!" Mary added, doing a much better job at restraining herself. My blush deepened, they were being embarrassing.

"Well it was you guys who signed me up in the first place, and you're telling me you didn't know I could sing? What kind of friends are you?" Emma stopped bouncing and pouted, putting on a wounded expression.

"Of course I knew you could sing! I've known you for 13 years, how could you doubt me?" She whined. I grinned, and a flash of metal caught the corner of my eye. Frowning slightly I looked around, trying to find it, but it was gone. Mary had her hands behind her back.

"Hey Mary," I called cheerfully, "What are you hiding?" She skipped back, but I grabbed her sleeve and held her in place. "Let me see it." Lavi watched, a confused expression on his usually cheerful face.

"Is something wrong Jasmine?" he asked, not moving from his position against the wall. Mary stopped struggling and turned to ogle Lavi, whom she had somehow failed to notice until then.

"Wow, he's hot." She stated bluntly, making me pale and glance back cautiously at the flirtatious redhead. To my utmost surprise he didn't rise to the bait, instead reverting to his serious expression from the other night. That was when I knew something was up.

"Lavi, you came here for a reason. What's wrong?" Emma and Mary glanced at me and stepped back slightly, sensing the heavy atmosphere. He stepped away from the wall and glanced down the otherwise empty hallway. I pointed to the hall, indicating for Emma and Mary to go back through, but when they refused to move I simply wandered further up the hall with him.

"Are you sure they can't hear us?" He asked me. Taking a quick peek over my shoulder I glared at them.

"I'm not sure, but they definitely won't come any closer." He nodded, apparently satisfied. "How did you find me anyway?" His features melted back into a smile.

"Bookman said I needed to go talk to you, so I sent my golem off to find you and this is where we ended up." The flash of metal passed across my vision again and I looked around.

"Where is your golem anyway?" His eyes rose above my head and I flinched as a slight weight settled on my head. Holding my hand out flat by my shoulder I gasped in surprise when the small black bat-like golem alighted on my palm.

"He was keeping out of sight since all the noise was scaring him." I was grinning as I examined the golem sitting in my hand. Suddenly the golem flew into the air again and hovered at eye level in front of us. It started beeping and Lavi looked at it curiously. "Answer the call." The golem opened its mouth to reveal an expandable screen. A light flickered, revealing a familiar white haired teenager.

My jaw dropped and I mouthed his name. "Allen…" Lavi gave me a reassuring grin before focusing his attention on the screen.

"What's up beansprout?" Allen was silent, visibly clenching his jaw to avoid yelling.

"Was that Lavi I heard just now? That means you finally got through." He turned to look at something off screen, probably chief Komui. Something clicked in my mind and I remembered something important I had neglected to do. I shoved Lavi out of the way and waited for Allen to look back at the screen.

"Allen I'm so sorry!" He blinked in surprise.

"Jasmine?" I ignored his intrigued gaze and continued my rant.

"I completely forgot to tell Lavi about the mission! Please forgive me." Lavi was watching our conversation interestedly from the side lines. There was a loud clatter, making me jump, and I spun around in fright, serving to further confuse Allen.

"Jas, it's alright, that's what I was trying to get through for anyway." I wasn't really listening to him; instead I was glaring at Emma and Mary who had decided to attempt to sneak up on us, against their better judgement. What had alerted me to their approach was the metallic clatter of the falling video camera. When I was absolutely 100% sure that they wouldn't follow us again I pulled Lavi and the golem into the office.

"Sorry about that." Another voice cut in from the other side.

"Is that Jasmine? Ask her how her innocence has been adapting." Damn that Komui, always so straightforward when you don't want him to be.

"Chief lay off. Allen, what did you want to talk about and what did Jas mean when she said mission?"

"To cut a long story short, we're going to Greece. Happy?" Lavi opened his mouth to say something but I waved him off. "Now's not a good time. Allen, is there anything else?"

"Reever called the pilot; he's ready to go whenever you are, so just say the word. Other than that, there's basically nothing else to say." I nodded briefly, glancing out the door.

"That sounds like a good plan. Lavi, do you know if Bookman is finished with whatever it is he's doing over here?"

"The panda? I wouldn't have a clue." He had a strange glint in his eyes which made me think he was lying, but I wasn't going to push it now.

"Okay then. Thanks Allen, we'll call you later." He said his own farewell and the golem retracted the screen before closing its mouth. It landed on my shoulder and snuggled into my neck, making me giggle.

"He really likes you." Lavi pointed out as I walked over to the door. I grinned back at him over my shoulder.

"Are you ready for the interrogation?"

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><p><strong>AN: Change of plans. This time I don't want you to review, since it seems so off topic to me. **

**I want a golem now! But I'd rather have one like Timcampy as opposed to the regular golems... hmmm...**

**I ALMOST FORGOT SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT! All credit goes to the NZ band I Am Giant for the song :) They rock. and the song is called Living the Crash.**


	13. Results

The door creaked painfully loudly as I pulled it open. Lavi slipped through behind me before it slammed shut in its frame. Emma was nervous, standing against the wall opposite us, but Mary was standing right in front of me with a curious glint in her eyes. The black golem snuggled further into my hair as Mary's piercing gaze passed over it. Ignoring her gaze I held out my hand, praying the golem wouldn't take it as an invitation, but luckily it stayed hidden.

"Give me the camera. Now." Mary looked at me incredulously as though she didn't know what I was talking about. Emma stepped forward, rolling her eyes, and punched her in the arm.

"Ow!" She pouted and reluctantly held the camera out to me. I plastered a fake smile on my face as I took it from her, checking the content. There were hundreds of photos, which I ignored, seeing as the most recent ones were from a few weeks ago. Something that caught my eye though was a video. I almost dropped the camera when I clicked play and my own voice filtered out of the tinny speakers.

"Mary, why did you film me?" I whined, holding the camera precariously in my hands.

"You looked like you were having so much fun up there; I didn't think you would mind." I frowned, still not willing to give it back to her.

"What were you planning on doing with the video?" I asked suspiciously. She pouted again and kicked out at the wall.

"You really don't trust me at all. I was only going to show it to Matthew, since he was too busy to come tonight." I blushed a deep crimson and dropped the camera. Mary must have anticipated my reaction since she caught the camera with ease.

"Why would he care?" I asked curiously, trying to defend my reaction and retain my dignity. She put on an innocent expression and glanced up at me with puppy dog eyes.

"Well maybe my brother has a bit of a crush on you…" My ears burned red with embarrassment.

"He does not!" I protested loudly, just as one of the doors into the hall creaked open.

"Am I interrupting something?" It was Hannah, one of the presenters. She was in year 9, and she watched us with a show of mild interest.

"Nope, you're not interrupting anything, just having a little chat, aren't we guys?" Everyone nodded, not completely understanding why I was bothering to lie. She smiled cheerfully, her brown eyes sparkling in excitement as she held the door open for me.

"They're about to announce the winners, so you should probably come back in." Glancing nervously around my odd little group of friends I wandered slowly into the hall, absently stroking Lavi's golem as it cowered deeper into my hair against the noise of the crowd.

"All right all right, everyone calm down!" The other announcer seemed to be struggling to control the crowd as they started to get rowdy, impatiently waiting for the results. Hannah gave me an apologetic look as she ditched me to help out up on stage. Seeking out my bag I sat down in one of the hard red plastic chairs and stared up at the ceiling fans, waiting. A teacher breezed past me, heading up onto the stage. She grabbed the microphone and turned it on.

"Everyone, be quiet now so that we can announce the winners!" She hadn't shouted, but it had the same effect on the students as it would have if she had been screaming. Hannah smiled at her gratefully and I pulled my gaze down from the ceiling. I wasn't expecting anything, so I wasn't paying a lot of attention to what was being said until I saw the girls from the dance crew giving me the evils. They had gotten second place, when they had won every other year. The cheering and clapping died down and I leaned forward in my seat, intrigued to find out who had managed to beat the schools best dancers.

"And now what we've all been waiting for!" Hannah's voice rang out through the hall. "First place goes to… Jasmine Phantomhive!" With that sudden announcement everything started making sense. Those girls had been glaring at me because they somehow knew I was going to win. I could see Hannah gesturing wildly for me to come up on the stage and I obeyed. My feet barely felt like they were touching the stairs as I climbed them for the second time that evening. Something cold brushed up against the skin of my neck and I flinched, before remembering it was just the golem.

"Congratulations Jasmine!" The other presenter held out a certificate and a cheap plastic trophy. I took both of them and shook her hand numbly as I looked at out over the sea of colours. Someone screamed my name and I grinned, quietly asking Hannah if I could borrow her microphone.

"That was extremely unexpected." I admitted, waving the trophy to signify what I meant. "I wouldn't be up here right now if it wasn't for my mates signing me up. Emma and Mary, you guys better come up here!" They practically ran up the stairs and tackled me in another bone crushing hug. "You guys deserve this trophy more than I do, so you can fight over it amongst yourselves." The crowd laughed as I gave them the trophy and they posed as the librarian took photos for the school newsletter. Hannah was trying not to laugh as I handed her back the microphone and dragged my two friends back down the side stairs.

"First huh?" Lavi was grinning at me as I reached down to grab my bag. The poor black golem was shaking on my shoulder, and I wondered for a moment just how much of a mind the strange creatures actually had. Emma and Mary were busy fighting over who would get to keep my dollar shop trophy, so I decided it was probably my best chance to talk to the red headed exorcist.

"So, I guess you'd better go and find Bookman now." I stated as I slung my bag over my golem free shoulder. He nodded solemnly, green eye keeping watch over the others to make sure no-one was listening.

"Are you sure you don't want me to escort you home first?" Raising an eyebrow I looked at him curiously. Was he flirting with me? Unzipping my sports bag I moved the puffer jacket so I could show him that I was carrying my katana with me.

"Go find Bookman." I reiterated, making it a command instead of a suggestion. "This time I came prepared." He shrugged and I closed the bag again.

"It's your loss." Okay, he was definitely flirting with me. Does he not have an off switch? The little golem took flight and landed in Lavi's messy hair in preparation for his departure.

"Look, I'll see you once you talk to Bookman. Once everything's set I can ditch school and head to Greece instead." It was a lame thing to say, but I'd never been good at comebacks.

"Is school really that bad?" I glared up at the eighteen year old, refusing to answer his question.

"I'm going now!" I called, addressing Mary and Emma and ignoring Lavi. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." Without waiting for them to acknowledge me I shoved past Lavi and out into the hallway, resisting the urge to run away. Sebastian wasn't coming to pick me up for another 20 minutes and I didn't think I could cope with waiting for that long. In truth I could have texted him, since I had managed to teach him how to use a cell phone, but I needed some fresh air anyway.

* * *

><p>The walk home, whilst not a long one, was a depressing one. I missed my little golem friend and my side protested with every step I took. Apparently it wasn't as healed as I had hoped, and I would be going into my first mission injured. It wasn't a very positive prospect. Frowning down at my feet as I walked I tried to imagine what Greece would be like. Sure I was going to be there to work, but it wasn't going to stop me from dreaming. Plus, according to what Allen's email said anyway, we were going to be working up at the palace. It would at least give me a chance to see my grandmother in person, even if just from a distance. I wasn't about to tell anyone over there I was related to their Queen, I'd be swamped with all sorts of strange things if I did that, not to mention they would probably frown upon me working.<p>

* * *

><p>Somehow or another I made it home in one piece. After grabbing something from the kitchen I wandered wearily upstairs to my room, where despite my mood I decided to pack my bag. The certificate lay forgotten on my bed as I sat on the floor in the middle of the room, grabbing clothes at random and shoving them into my duffel bag. Warm summery clothes were a must, considering it would indeed be summer over in Greece. Glancing over at her uniform on the couch she wondered if they had a summer uniform. They probably did, but there was no point in side-tracking and going back to HQ just to pick one up. Sighing overdramatically I turned back to my packing. I didn't have to do it yet, since I had no idea when we would be leaving, but that was exactly why I had decided to pack now instead of leaving it till later. Having done all the packing I felt was necessary, I picked myself up off the ground and collapsed on my bed.<p>

* * *

><p>Morning arrived sooner than I would have liked, with the sunlight forcing me out of a rather nice dream I had been having, although once I woke up it all disappeared so it didn't really matter after all. I was in a very disgruntled mood considering my achievement the night before. School was just somewhere I didn't feel like being, not after spending so much time there yesterday. Erika practically had to drag me out of bed, and when I refused to move Sebastian carried me downstairs. I hadn't been expecting that, I wouldn't have thought he cared whether I went to school or not. When I questioned his intentions he just smiled.<p>

"You're making trouble for Erika young mistress." He stated calmly while packing my school bag. I almost wanted to hit him, but I knew it would be pointless and it wouldn't hurt him, even if I punched as hard as I could. Finally giving in to the will of my maid and demon I dragged myself to the car and let the raven drive me to school.

* * *

><p>Later that day…<p>

* * *

><p>Lunchtime was a sorry affair. Mary and Emma were still hyped up from the show, not to mention they were probably wondering where Lavi had come from. Surprisingly they had yet to ask me anything about him today. I had expected a barrage of questions ranging from where I met him to whether we were dating. Eating my sandwich I was secretly glad that they were too hyper to ask me any questions, since I didn't have any non-confidential answers to them.<p>

They had brought the trophy to school with them, since they apparently hadn't settled the question of ownership last night and they wanted me to choose. The fates were shining on my demon cursed soul today though, because I was saved by having to make a decision by the unexpected arrival of Lavi at the school gates. I had been the first person to notice him, and I had run over to the gates to find out what he was doing there. I didn't need him getting lumped into the rapist category along with Grell. Not that anyone from school would complain if Lavi hung around for a while.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him curiously. I should have been mad, but I couldn't be bothered.

"I'm here to pick you up." My eyebrows shot up at his carefree response.

"Pick me up? In the middle of the school day? What for?" All I could do was spout partial questions.

"For work. You told me to come get you once I had talked to Bookman."

"Hold on, so Bookman is already ready for us to go?" Lavi nodded and I noticed a little flash of black, bringing a smile to my face at the sight of the hiding golem.

"So are you ready?" I glanced over my shoulder at everyone eating lunch and then back up into his cheerful face.

"Sure. My stuffs at home though." Without waiting for his response I ran over to Emma and Mary, grabbed my bag, and ran back to the gate, waving at the teacher on duty before dashing past Lavi and coming face to face with my car. "What the heck?"

"I went to your place first, and that Sebastian fellow insisted on coming too." He sounded vaguely irritated by that fact, but it saved me a trip back home. Climbing into the car I knew I had a ridiculous grin on my face, but I just couldn't stop smiling. It was finally time to go to Greece.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh my gosh I am SOOOO sorry that it took so long to update this. I didn't even have writers block, how shameful. It was partially exams, then school projects, and after than it was pottersworld. That's right, blame the website. I'll try and work harder this time!**

**Oh, and I was wanting to name the katana, but I can't think of anything cool or original, so if you have any ideas feel free to PM me with them :)**


	14. Greece

**Chapter 14**

Lying down on the couch in the Order's private jet I stared up at the ceiling as I absently pulled on my tie. Sebastian once again had to put up with having my legs as a seatbelt. It probably annoyed the proud demon to no end to have to bend to my whim, but that's just what he got seeing as he had decided to make a contract with yet another member of the Phantomhive family. Besides, he made a good footrest. Lavi looked like he was still having a hard time processing the strange relationship between me and Sebastian, especially since I wasn't giving him any help. Bookman was, well, he was being Bookman, quietly observing everything (i.e. me and Sebastian) from the side-lines. That old man really got on my nerves sometimes, the way he was always watching me with his cold, calculating gaze. I didn't understand him, and I still hadn't managed to figure out why everyone called him Bookman. Surely he had to have a proper name, but I wasn't about to give in and ask the man in question, since he probably wouldn't tell me anyway.

Planes weren't really my preferred method of transport. The altitude made the scar on my head throb, and heights just weren't really my thing. Scowling at the ceiling I pulled my tie off over my head before swinging my legs off the couch and planting my feet on the floor. Since we had gone straight to the airport from school I hadn't had the chance to ditch my school uniform. I hadn't wanted to drag it all the way to Greece with me, but it was far too late to complain now.

"Hey Sebastian, what did you tell Erica?" I had only just remembered the maid. We were always running off and leaving her in the dark.

"Please don't act like I'm stupid young mistress. I merely told her that she needed to make an excuse for your absence at school." The whole speech rolled off his tongue as though he had been practising it. He was a demon though; it was just his natural charisma, the charisma that made the older woman at the shops swoon.

"I'm definitely glad you can't lie to me." I may have been young at the time, but I still knew better than to let a demon on the loose without any restrictions or requirements. Lavi raised a curious eyebrow at my proclamation, which I skilfully ignored. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Pushing myself to my feet I grabbed the plastic bag with my work uniform in it and wandered off to the bathroom. I left the boots behind with Sebastian. However much I loved those shoes I just couldn't be bothered with them at the moment. I'd put them on before we landed, and that was all that mattered shoe wise in the long run. Stripping off my school uniform I put on my exorcist uniform: black pants, white shirt and a black jacket with the Order's insignia on it. I loved the uniform; it was so old-fashioned yet trendy at the same time. I had the female pants, which were rather tight-fitting, but at least it was better than the miniskirt I had seen Lenalee wearing.

Gathering my discarded uniform I shoved it into the now empty plastic bag and picked it up in my arms before unlocking the bathroom door and walking back over to the others. I dropped the bag of clothes on top of my duffel bag on the floor before collapsing back on the couch next to Sebastian, turning to lie down with my head in his lap to see what sort of reaction I would get from the others, mainly Lavi. Sebastian's red eyes peered curiously into mine, trying to find the answer to an unspoken question. Lavi tensed up, q stormy expression on his usually cheerful face. Bookman didn't move a muscle, not that I had expected anything from him. If I kept this up maybe the flight wouldn't be as boring as I thought it would be.

* * *

><p>When we landed Sebastian gathered up all my things, except for my katana, which I strapped carefully to my waist underneath my jacket. We marched off the plane in single file to find that we had an escort to the palace. Apparently they didn't want us going on any detours along the way. Other than introducing themselves and stating their business they didn't say a word, although that could just mean that they didn't know very much English. Luckily the drive wasn't a particularly long one, because the silence was intense. I couldn't stand it, such an angry and intimidating silence. When we arrived at the palace I was the first one out of the car, breathing in the fresh air and taking in all the noise. I had known that Sebastian could be scary when he's quiet, but I never thought that would apply to Lavi too. One of the guards stepped forwards and bowed down to us.<p>

"Welcome to Greece. My name is Ricardo. I am the captain of the Palace Guard and I have been instructed to bring you to the King and Queen." He straightened up and his face paled visibly as he looked at me. Unless he had seen the video he wouldn't know who I was, so maybe it was my katana that had him on edge.

"My name is Jasmine… Phantomhive." I hesitated when deciding which name I should use. "This is Lavi." I gestured to the red head standing next to me. "And that's Bookman." I pointed to the old man. Lavi gave me an odd look when I didn't make any mention of Sebastian in my introductions, but a quick look around would have told him that the demon was no longer present. Ricardo nodded slightly.

"Alright, then if you'll please all follow me." He turned around and started walking, leaving us no other choice but to hurry after him. Ricardo spoke almost perfect English, but I was willing to bet that most of the other guards couldn't. I could hear them whispering as they went about their work and I self-consciously pulled my hair forward over my eyes. Ignoring them was reasonably easy since I never spoke Greek any more, but it didn't stop me from speculating.

As we walked quickly through the corridors I found myself overwhelmed by a sudden case of reality. I was in an actual palace in my dad's homeland, and I was about to be introduced to the king and queen. The other thing that hit me was that the Order uniform I was wearing was far too hot for the Greek heat of summer. I tried to avoid eye contact with anyone who passed us in the hallway, because violet eyes were such a rarity and I didn't appreciate the stares and whispers they usually caused when I went to new places. Almost sooner than I would have liked we arrived in front of a large pair of double doors that had their own guards. Ricardo had a quick whispered conversation with one of them before they opened the doors for us. He then went in ahead of us, although that was perfectly understandable, since it was a palace and we were only guests. I kept my eyes glued to the ground as we walked into the throne room, bowing respectfully when Ricardo motioned for us to, making sure that Lavi did the same. Something gave me the impression that exorcists didn't always feel like they needed to show respect to others.

"These are the exorcists your majesties; Jasmine, Lavi and Bookman." I glanced up through my hair at the elderly occupants of the two thrones on the raised dais. There was a definite resemblance between my father and the king, but I managed to keep an emotionless expression when faced with that little confirmation that they really were my grandparents. It was hard though, when all I really wanted to do was go over and hug my grandmother. I caught the queen's gaze for a moment and a look of realisation flashed across her purple eyes. Breaking eye contact I stared at my boots, hoping that Ricardo wouldn't be able to put two and two together. It was a stupid wish. Purple eyes were extremely rare, and in this room alone there were two occupants with that particular gene.

"Welcome exorcists. I thank you for coming, even though it was an unusual request." I was almost surprised to hear English coming out of her mouth instead of Greek, but then reality came crashing down around me and I realised that it was only natural that the monarchs would be able to speak the language that most of their visitors spoke. She did still have a thick Greek accent though. Bookman was rambling on about something that sounded like it was work related and I zoned out a bit, not really interested in hearing what he had to say. A whisper of cold air tickled the back of my neck and I saw the King stiffen in his seat.

"Sebastian." I reprimanded emotionlessly under my breath without turning around.

He leaned in close and whispered "I apologise young mistress, for disappearing so suddenly before." Angling my arm I tried to elbow him in the gut, but he easily dodged it like I knew he would. Turning to face him I stared up into his red eyes.

"It's not the disappearing that annoys me; it's the time you chose to come back." His eyes flicked to the dais and its occupants before coming back to me.

"Another Phantomhive?" He asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't be stupid." I punched him in the arm, this time he didn't dodge it. "Does either of them look like Uncle Ciel?" His eyes were glowing with an inhuman sense of amusement and I glared angry purple daggers at him.

"Why don't you go back to my room and look for traps or something." Nodding he walked slowly out of the throne room. Ricardo cleared his throat awkwardly, causing me to turn back around.

"I think perhaps it is time for us to take our leave your majesties." He motioned discretely for us to leave, but the queen apparently had other ideas.

"Captain, you may escort the exorcists to their rooms, but I would like to speak with Jasmine in private." Ricardo froze in surprise and Lavi nudged me playfully, a grin on his face. The others were quickly ushered out of the room, leaving me alone with the two most powerful people in the country.

"What are you doing Thaleia?" Obviously she had neglected to inform him of our little emailing conversation. She waved her hand absently at him.

"Calm down Alexandros. She is Baltasar's daughter." He shifted his gaze to scrutinise me and I met his eyes, carefully shifting the stray strands of hair out of my eyes so that he could see them properly. His eyes flicked from me to grandmother to me again before he frowned and sank back into his throne.

"I see. Then I suppose she can tell us what happened to our son which caused him to cut off all contact over the last few years." He stared expectantly at me with his dark blue eyes. Walking towards the dais I knelt down cautiously on the first step, hand on the hilt of my katana. What I had to tell them was probably going to be hard for them to handle.

"Grandmother, Grandfather, Janis… umm, I mean Baltasar, he…" Clutching my side with one hand I shifted into a more comfortable sitting position. It was going to be difficult for me to find the right words to tell them.

"My father, he…" They waited patiently as I struggled to voice the thing that had been tormenting me for the last three years.

"Three years ago, my mother and father were murdered." Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes as all the pain I had been holding back since my rescue came flooding to the surface.

"My older brother Richard, he went missing that night. I haven't seen or heard from him since." The tears spilled over and I rubbed angrily at my eyes, scrubbing the tears away. Thaleia let out a grief stricken cry before climbing to her feet. She walked over and sat down next to me, putting a comforting arm around my shoulders and hugging me as she cried. Alexandros was quiet, but he was probably taking it even worse than Thaleia was.

"You poor thing." She whispered soothingly next to my ear, hugging me close as my own tears continued to flow silently down my cheeks.

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><p>When we had cried ourselves out and calmed down a bit we talked about some of the more trivial aspects of life. She told me stories about when Janis – I mean my father – was a little boy, and about how he used to play with his older brother Bakkhos (I mean wow, they had seriously strange names. I used to hate my name, but Jasmine was starting to look pretty good compared to some of these…).<p>

If I had been paying attention I might have noticed the presence lurking behind one of the columns near the door, watching and listening to the talk of royalty.

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><p><strong>AN: Okay, so good news everyone, the story is going to get interesting again pretty soon. Admittedly in the storyline there's still a week before that happens, but we'll try and move through that quickly shall we? And yes, they all have stupid names, I got them off some random greek website...**

**Oh, I'm still looking for a name for that katana, so seriously, pm me if you have any ideas**


	15. Awkward Encounters

**Chapter 15: Awkward Encounters**

Footsteps on the tiled floor echoed throughout the hall. Nervous, I went to draw my katana before remembering that it was innocence that I still didn't know how to use.

"State your name and purpose." I called angrily in Greek. A shadowed figure appeared from behind a column. They stepped out into the middle of the hall and as the light washed over him I recognised him as the Captain of the Guard. I let out a breath I hadn't realised I had been holding. For a moment I was relieved to see him, but the look on his face quickly set me back on edge.

"How much did you hear?" I questioned menacingly, standing strong with my feet shoulder-width apart. There was an odd expression on his face, a mixture of happiness and guilt.

"I heard enough, princess." _Princess? Damn._ I cringed, dropping my guard and staring straight into his hopeful brown eyes. If all the guards eavesdropped as much as Ricardo did then my identity would be all over the castle by morning. Being given a title and treated differently was what I had been trying to avoid in the first place.

"Captain, you are forbidden to speak of this to anyone." Surprisingly it was my grandfather Alexandros who was standing up for me this time instead of my grandmother.

"But your majesty, surely this wondrous news should be at least told to Bakkhos and Gregorios. Don't they deserve to know?" I glared irritably at the man who would dare to talk back to his King.

"No-one is to know unless Jasmine tells them personally. Until the time when she chooses to disclose the information to everyone you will address her as a Phantomhive and not as a member of the royal family. Do you understand Captain Vance?" He swallowed nervously and I relaxed, certain that he wouldn't dare to disobey a direct order. My feet started moving before I even realised I wanted to leave. I was stressed out and I wanted to go find Sebastian and force him to tell me stories about his past. It was too hot to think, and he probably wouldn't be particularly willing to disclose details about his demonic past when there was such a high chance that someone might be eavesdropping. Footsteps followed after me as I left the throne room, footsteps that I now recognised as belonging to Ricardo. I could almost hear the cogs ticking in his head as he tried to process the facts and decide what he was going to do about it. Apparently he now felt the need to be my personal guide *cough* guard *cough*, which I could have done without. Ignoring his directions I went where my feet tool me, following my instinct in the hopes that it would take me to the person I sought, that person being either Sebastian or someone I knew form home such as Grell, as unlikely as it would be for him to be here.

My eyes had been wandering and I had been spacing out, so the first indication that anything had happened was when I felt something warm and hard smack into my left shoulder, throwing me back.

"Watch where you're walking servant." The man sneered obnoxiously in Greek.

"Prince Bakkhos! Please forgive us." Something about that name sparked a chord in my memory.

"Bakkhos…" Then it clicked. That was the name of my father's brother, first prince Bakkhos. I narrowed my eyes, trying not to glare at him. From what I had seen so far he seemed like an awful person, so it seemed to make perfect sense that father would have run away from the castle. Racking my brain I tried to think of a language that he wasn't likely to know. Sebastian had taught me a few, but the only language I was really good at was Greek.

Throwing together my limited knowledge of Indian I said coldly "Excuse me Uncle, I didn't mean to get in your way." I went to move past him but froze in my tracks when he replied "Uncle? What gives you the right to call me that?" All the snappy, sarcastic remarks and snarky comebacks disappeared from my mind, along with most of my language skills, leaving me reduced to speaking plain old English.

"You… how did you know what I said?" Indian definitely wasn't a mandatory language in Greek schools. He smirked at my totally clueless expression in that obnoxious way of his. I knew immediately that there was no way in hell that we were going to get along, family or not. Gripping the hilt of my katana angrily I pretended I was contemplating drawing it and threatening him, hoping that it would scare him. It was always doomed to fail. He just glanced curiously at the sword attached to my waist before meeting my irritated purple gaze and smiling amusedly down at me, staying annoyingly tight-lipped about why he knew Indian.

"Fine then. Ricardo, I'm leaving now." I shoved past the first prince and began walking aimlessly down the hallway once more.

"Wait princess, you're going the wrong way!" I froze and turned around to glare at him. I hadn't actually admitted anything to Bakkhos, and the stupid guard had just ruined any chance I had of convincing him that it had been a slip of the tongue.

"Why am I surrounded by idiotic men?" I murmured to myself as I picked a corridor and started down it. Eventually I came to a window which looked out over a training ground. It wasn't what I had been looking for, but it didn't seem like such a bad place to take a break. Opening the window I sat down on the ledge, one leg hanging outside as I stared out over the empty grounds.

I'm not sure how long I sat there for. I may even have fallen asleep at one stage due to the heat. When I opened my eyes again something, or should I say someone, was casting a shadow over me. There were only about four people it could have been, since Bookman was too short and grandfather had duties to attend to. At first I automatically assumed it was Sebastian, but the shadow wasn't long enough, so I turned to face whoever it was who was standing over me.

"So, what happened in the throne room?" I rolled my eyes at the overly energetic eighteen year old.

"Like you can't guess." He was a bright guy, he'd probably figured out what was going to happen before I did. After all, he did hack into my Gmail account and read the email I had received from my grandmother. Which reminded me, I should still be angry at him for that blatant invasion of privacy. But it was too hot for being angry and holding grudges. It was a good thing we would only be there for a week, otherwise I would probably melt. I liked the New Zealand climate way better. It's what I was built for, so I really hoped the next mission I went on would be closer to home.

"Hey, by any chance do you know where my room is?" Lavi's green eye watched me as I rearranged myself on the window sill.

"Didn't that guard guy show you?" I frowned down at my knees.

"We sort of had a fight, so I ditched him." My frown deepened when Lavi started laughing. It made me want to steal his bandana. Don't ask me why, I just wanted to see if his hair could resist gravity like that without it.

"If you don't want to help me then I'll just go and find Sebastian instead." I swung my legs back inside and planted my feet on the floor only to find myself being pulled to my feet.

"Well then, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" His fingers were wrapped around my wrist and he pulled me down the corridor. The heat had sapped my strength, so I couldn't be bothered fighting back. I just let him lead me through the hallways, trying not to think too much about the fact that he was practically holding my hand.

After an unknown amount of twists and turns we finally stopped in front of a non-descript white door. I glanced over at Lavi from under my fringe, wondering how on earth he had already memorised the way to our rooms. It was just a plain white door, the same as a dozen others we had passed on the way. He opened the door and his expression darkened when he saw Sebastian sitting on my window seat. The same thing that made Lavi angry gave me a sense of relief, knowing for sure that it was my room.

Stepping inside I sat down on the edge of the massive canopy bed, staring at the view at the window. It was of a training ground, but it was a different one. It made me wonder just how many separate training grounds there were at the palace. Considering the amount of guards I concluded that there had to be quite a few.

"So…" Lavi looked over at me from where he was standing in the doorway. "There's a week, seven whole days, until we're needed. What on earth are we going to do to pass all that time?" Lavi grinned cheekily.

"Well, you could always go to school." His eye was sparkling in amusement and I narrowed my eyes, throwing a pillow at him and cringing when the tape around my torso pulled against my skin. The cut had appeared to be healing well, and I had almost completely forgotten about it. It really put a damper on my good mood, and I lay back on the bed, eyes trained on the ceiling. As fate would have it I seemed to have developed a habit of staring at ceilings, when they weren't even particularly interesting.

"Sebastian," I started suddenly, propping myself up on one elbow. "You better not be sleeping in my room," Lavi tensed up and closed the door behind him, "because servant or not it's still creepy for someone as old as you to be sleeping in a fifteen year old girl's room." Sebastian smirked, his eyes flicking to Lavi for half a second before they landed on me.

"I will have you know that I'm not THAT old." I raised an eyebrow at the immortal demon protesting his age. "I also have no intention of staying here." My eyebrows knit together in a frown as I tried to decipher the underlying message in his statement. As far as I knew he barely ever slept, so he had to be doing something.

There was one sharp knock on the door before it was yanked open, sending Lavi tumbling to the ground since he had been leaning on it. Bookman gave him a tired glare as he waited for Lavi to get back up.

"What the hell panda?" Lavi complained, rubbing the back of his head as he sat defiantly on the floor of my new temporary bedroom. Another glare from Bookman quickly had him back on his feet, although he was still thoroughly annoyed, that was plain to see in his expression. Pushing myself up until I was sitting properly again I smiled cheekily over at Lavi, more than ready to get back at him for that jibe about school.

"Looks like duty calls huh? Bye bye then." I wiggled my fingers in a small shooing direction, violet eyes full of amusement as I took my revenge. He glared at me and I cracked up laughing clutching my side as my struggle to stop sent short jabs of pain through my healing cut.

"I don't think you should be laughing Jasmine." Bookman's short statement made me freeze up, a small chill running up my spine.

"Why's that?" My voice cracked slightly and it was barely more than a whisper, but the old guy had scary good hearing.

"Because you're coming with us."

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><p><strong>AN: Okay guys, I'm sort of sad that no-one has any name ideas for me, plus no-one has given me any reviews… :( ANYWAY exams are coming up next week, which means I'll be on study leave but it also means that updates may be few and far between since I should actually try and devote some time to studying**


	16. Investigations

**A/N: Hey everyone, this chapter has taken me several English lessons and some home time to finally finish writing, and I hope I can get the next one up quicker. I guess it's time to bring back the cookie board aye?**

**Cookie Leader board:**

**5 cookies for my mate Sammy (Saaammm or s for those of you who read the reviews other people leave)**

**1 cookie for Z.C.A, even though if it hadn't been you I would probably have been quite offended**

**1 for Pandarocket, for that review way back at the start.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

Let me give you all a warning. Bookman can be extremely scary without even trying when he wants you to do something.

**Flashback:**

"_You are coming with us Jasmine." I stared blankly at him, one hand resting on the edge of my bed._

"_Why?" My voice squeaked and it was barely more than a whisper, but Bookman still managed to hear me._

"_Your language skills will come in handy with what we are going to do." His voice was cold and emotionless, his eyes narrowing slightly as I flinched back under his gaze. Lavi was frozen, half out the door, as he waited for something to happen. I had a feeling that he was going to be teasing me if I gave in, but I didn't really have any other options._

**Present Time:**

So that's how I ended up wandering around the town, katana locked away in my bedroom so it wouldn't ruin the investigation. I was drowning in the heat, and my sunglasses were no match for the bright sunlight. My blue and white striped tank top was clinging uncomfortably to my skin as I looked around for someone to talk to. There was a purple bandana wrapped around my arm in order to cover the contract pentagram from view of the general public.

My big black combat boots hit the ground rather a lot louder than my flats would have, but it gave me a false sense of security in the new town to be wearing my new exorcist boots. I certainly drew a lot of strange looks from the locals, but I hadn't really been expecting anything different. Digging my hand around in the pocket of my denim shorts I pulled out some money, giving it a quick glance before enclosing it in my fist. Money was a universal language, so I figured that it might help my cause if I bought something instead of wandering around doing nothing.

Observing my surroundings I realised that I was more than a little bit lost. Not only was the palace no longer in view, but I couldn't see Lavi or Bookman anywhere, not to mention that I had absolutely no idea where Sebastian had run off to.

"I really need to quit spacing out." I commented drily as I plucked my tank top off my skin, trying in vain to cool down even the tiniest bit.

"Does the young miss want a drink?" The heavily accented voice seemed to be coming from the shadows of a building overhang, one that simply screamed dangerous.

"No thank you sir." I replied curtly in Greek, startling him and giving me a chance to slink away further down the market street.

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><p>That little encounter had shaken me, and I would have given just about anything to have had someone with me, be it Lavi or Sebastian, or even Grell, but I also knew deep down that that would just make me seem unapproachable. Bookman had told me to collect information, and that was what I was going to do, but I didn't know where to start. He didn't tell me what to look for, he just told me to look. In all honesty it seemed like a rather pointless job. It also meant that, technically, as long as I came back with SOMETHING then I would have done what he had asked for. But I didn't have the luxury of naivety anymore. Chances were that he wanted me to try and find information about Akuma activity in order to predict the likelihood of anything actually happening at the party next week. I'd already encountered 2 Akuma in my short life, and I didn't fancy getting myself into a fight before I could even figure out how to activate my innocence.<p>

Turning a corner I found myself in a street that – if it was even possible – seemed even brighter and sunnier than the last. I still hadn't managed to find any information and I sighed in frustration, kicking a loose stone that tried to trip me up. The people in this street seemed nicer, definitely not like that shady guy from the last street I was on. There was only one problem. I was now well and truly lost, with no idea how to get back to the palace. Hopefully I'd be able to find a friendly local to show me the way back.

Looking around I spotted a reasonably legit looking café and decided to order a drink. I was worried I might suffer from culture shock if I actually took the time to read the menu, so I just ordered some orange juice. Taking the icy cold glass back to an empty table I tried in vain to get out of the sun. When I realised it wasn't going to happen I crossed my ankles and leaned back in my seat, taking a small sip of the freezing fruit drink.

My eyes wandered, taking in the street along with the people sitting scattered around the café. Most of the patrons appeared to be in their late twenties and early thirties. They would be knowledgeable enough about any strange happenings in the town, but they probably wouldn't want to talk to me, a nosy teenage girl asking questions like some sort of wannabe Nancy Drew.

Shaking my head in annoyance I let out a small sigh before turning back to my juice and taking another sip. I had a feeling that it was going to be harder that I had bargained for to find anything useful, especially since I was automatically crossing off possible information sources without even attempting to talk to them. Hand wrapped around my glass I took a look at myself. Cringing I realised that my outfit practically screamed tourist. It was no surprise that the creep from before had tried talking to me. He probably thought that I was going to be easy prey. Maybe not everyone was as friendly as I had hoped.

A shadow fell across my face and I raised an eyebrow, glancing up from my self-examination. Someone had sat down in the seat across from me at my table. Peering through my rose tinted sunglasses I examined the person who had deemed it acceptable to invade my personal space. It was a young guy, about my age, although whether he was older or younger I couldn't tell. He didn't have a drink or any food; he was just sitting there, watching me with his light brown eyes. It was slightly unnerving. I took another sip, watching him over the rim of my glass.

"Are you new around here?" He asked suddenly in a voice that barely had a hint of a Greek accent. Setting my glass down I traced patterns in the condensation on the side.

"Maybe, what's it to you?" My fingers fell to the table and I met his eyes, subconsciously wincing at my blatantly kiwi accent. The only time I didn't have a too strong kiwi accent was when I was speaking Greek. He laughed, his brown eyes sparkling in amusement.

"You looked a bit lost." He admitted, shrugging his shoulders under my questioning gaze. "Okay okay, that's a lie. I just couldn't stand to see a cutie like yourself sitting here all alone." It's a good thing that I wasn't one for blushing, not much anyway, because the happy go lucky boy sitting across from me had a smooth talking streak and a way with words. Emma probably would have fainted by now, although that may be partially from the heat.

"Right…" Tightening the bandana around my arm I considered my options. He seemed eager enough to hang out with me, although his intentions were most likely selfish and not out of the good of his heart. I was still injured, and I didn't have my katana – Athena, named after the Greek goddess of war strategy and wisdom – with me for defence. If he tried anything then I would be in trouble, but Sebastian would find me before anything bad happened. All I had to do was call for him.

Leaning forward over my glass I peered over the rim of my glasses. "Well hey, do you mind if I ask you a question?" He also leaned forward, mimicking my movement, and looked at me with renewed interest.

"Sure thing, fire away." He was probably wondering why I hadn't bothered asking what his name was.

"Has there been anything… oh I don't know… weird or abnormal happening in or around the town recently?" He blinked, brown eyes showing a hint of confusion before he grinned again, apparently not taking my question seriously.

"Nothing apart from seeing someone as gorgeous as yourself sitting all alone out here." I rolled my eyes behind my tinted sunglasses, resisting the urge to punch him in the face. He was even more of a shameless flirter than Lavi. And with my thoughts then turned towards Lavi I started getting angry, imagining the red headed exorcist flirting with everyone who walked by. I wasn't even sure why it pissed me off so much.

"While I'm flattered, that had absolutely no relevance to my question, not to mention it was unnecessary and unhelpful." Clenching my fingers around the glass I quickly sculled the rest of my orange juice and stood up, glaring down at him as I did. The single ice cube that had managed not to melt clinked in the bottom of the glass as I slammed it down on the table.

"Where are you going?" He called out, suddenly sounding desperate. Ignoring him I stepped out into the street once more, calling thanks to the store employees as I went.

"Hey seriously, wait for me!" Sparing a quick glance over my shoulder through my copper bangs I continued walking, stopping in the centre of the street.

"Sebastian!" I called angrily, only flinching a little bit when a tall black shadow suddenly appeared from behind me. A smirk lit up my face as I turned to look over at the boy who had invaded my table, watching his confused expression as I stood with my loyal raven.

"Sorry babe, but I have to run." I called over to him, venom dripping from my voice as I inwardly cringed at the coarse use of the ugly language of unnecessary flirting, which was something I never did. Without giving the irritating teenager a second thought I tugged Sebastian's sleeve discretely and let him guide me off to another area of the town. Unapproachability was going to be better than being harassed by stupid people with no information.

"Wait! I can answer your question for real if you just wait for me!" Man was that boy persistent. Stopping in my tracks I exchanged a quick silent conversation with Sebastian, concluding that it wouldn't do any harm to hear him out now that Sebastian was here.

"Fine." I crossed my arms across my chest, making sure not to move the bandana, and waited for him to catch up. I wasn't sure what had caused the sudden change of heart, and I'm not really sure I cared, as long as I found something to bring back to Bookman so he wouldn't think I was a burden.

He glanced around nervously before stepping closer. "My mum said I shouldn't talk about it, so you can't tell anyone, okay?" I nodded irritably, waiting for him to continue. "There was a weird… explosion I guess… at the edge of the town yesterday." My eyebrows shot up and I looked up into Sebastian's shocked red irises.

"Why do you think no-one told us?" I asked him, momentarily ignoring our information source. His pupils flashed to slits for a second as he stared past me, lost in his own little world.

"They're keeping it under wraps, so they don't want the tourists to know. Maybe the Captain didn't want to worry us? Although one would think that that would defeat the purpose of being the security." Groaning I flicked him in the arm.

"Shut up Sebastian." The blonde haired local was still watching me, looking even more confused than he had a moment ago. "Sorry. Um… thanks for your help? You can go now." With my casual dismissal he gave me a rather offended glare and stormed off, apparently not happy with the way I had treated him after he spilled a secret.

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><p><strong>.:Later:.<strong>

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><p>Once everyone was gathered in the room that the guards had put aside for us to use as a base of sorts we all spilled our information. To my surprise I had managed to find out more than Lavi, which wasn't saying much since I had only found one thing. That boy really mustn't have been trying. But when Bookman admitted to not having been able to find anything either I nearly sank into a state of shock.<p>

"What happened to you two?" There had to be some logical explanation as to how BOOKMAN could have been refused information. He had proved himself to be something akin to all-knowing, and if he didn't know it he would find out, whether you liked it or not.

Apparently I'd had a lucky break, since he wasn't the only one who had been told not to talk about the explosion. It only made things seem more suspicious and I could tell that Bookman was thinking everything over and trying to reason it out in his head.

I had Athena lying on the table in front of me, and I stared down at the blade in thought. Someone had given out that order, someone who wanted to cover it up. I wasn't open minded enough to think of a good motive though, so I decided to leave that up to Bookman. All I was worried about was the party in a weeks' time, and how hard it was going to end up being to protect the guests when we weren't even getting all the information about possible attacks in the area.


	17. Sword vs Hammer

**Chapter 17:**

I spent most of the next three days collapsed on my bed with the windows open, trying to catch a breeze as I practically melted in the sweltering summertime heat. Once again I was glad that the temperature of my home town was nowhere near as crazy as this.

The few times during those days that I could be bothered moving resulted in my sitting in the floor with my laptop on my knees, surfing the web and catching up on the news in Facebook from Emma and Mary. Luckily the time zones plus my laziness resulted in us never being on at the same time, so they couldn't have lots of angry IM chats with me.

After the first time I did that I had found out basically everything I had missed, which equated to absolutely nothing. The teachers were mad about me ditching school at lunch with 'that delinquent boy', and no matter how much Erika tried to convince the school that I was ill they wouldn't buy the fact that Lavi was a relative who had come to take me home. Other than that school was as it always had been, boring.

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><p><strong>.:Later:.<strong>

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><p>On my fourth day of self-imposed solitary confinement I was starting to get seriously bored. You could only do so many things while locked inside a single room. One of those things had been watching people using the training field outside my window. It was something to do, and it was actually pretty interesting.<p>

When Lavi had come by my room with my lunch, because I kept getting lost on the way to the dining hall so he had decided to get it for me, he had noticed me sitting in the window seat watching the empty grounds. No-one was training there today, and it seemed sort of empty, not to mention it gave me one less thing to do.

He handed me my tray of food before sitting down on my bed with his own. Apparently he felt it wasn't wise for me to be spending so much time alone cooped up in my room, so he had taken it upon himself to keep me company. To be honest part of the reason I had retreated to my room was to avoid seeing the Captain or first prince Bakkhos while I wandered through the castle hallways.

"How are you feeling today Jasmine?" Lavi asked suddenly, breaking me away from my non-attentive gaze out the window. Turning to face him I finished the sandwich I had been eating before replying.

"I feel fine, why do you ask?" He glanced past me out the window before returning his gaze to my boredom filled violet eyes.

"Well I had an idea see? I was wondering, if you were feeling up to it, if you would want to have a little sparring match with me, since you haven't really had a chance to get the feel of your new weapon." I let his offer spin around in my mind for a minute before looking straight at him and shrugging my shoulders.

"Sure, sounds good. I was starting to get cabin fever anyway." I unwrapped my second sandwich and took a bite from it, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing.

"Are you going to fight me with a sword? I didn't know you could use a sword." Lavi grinned at me, shaking his head ever so slightly. I raised an eyebrow at him as I continued to eat my sandwich, not bothering to speak again until I was completely finished eating.

"I seriously doubt that you're stupid enough to fight against a sword using hand to hand combat, even a sword in the hands of an inexperienced sword wielder. So how on earth are you going to spar against me?" I was genuinely curious, and I couldn't wait to found out exactly how this thing was going to work out. Unfortunately for me he didn't seem like he was about to tell me, so I was just going to have to wait and see.

"Are you ready then?" He asked, getting to his feet and putting our two food trays in a pile by the door. Climbing to my feet I wandered over to my bag, grabbed Athena, and turned to face him.

"I'm ready whenever you are." He nodded and went to go out the door, but I had other ideas. My room was on the ground floor, so I might as well take advantage of that fact. I walked over to the window and was over half way outside before Lavi even noticed what I was doing.

"That's one way to do it." He commented in amusement as he turned to follow me instead. His exit was still a bit more graceful than mine, since he jumped out and landed on the grass while I climbed out, not wanting to get ground shock. The grounds were empty, so there was no one around to see us climbing out of windows, which was probably a good thing when I thought about it.

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><p>Walking to the centre of the training field I turned around so that I was facing my room, with Lavi standing in front of me. Holding Athena in one hand I quickly tightened my bandana before checking my hair. I tied it up into a high ponytail so that it wouldn't get in the way during the match, but my bangs were still down so they would hide the un-healing scar on my forehead from any future spectators. I really wasn't looking forward to there actually being any spectators though, so hopefully we wouldn't draw too much attention.<p>

As I tried to find a good way to hold my katana Lavi shoved his hand in his pocket before pulling out a tiny hammer. It seemed kind of familiar for some reason; although I was pretty sure I had never seen such a tiny hammer before in my life.

"What's with the hammer?" I asked curiously, finally deciding to hold my katana with two hands and just hope for the best. Lavi was being awfully secretive today, preferring the silent smile to any actual explanations. He held his hand out, palm flat with the miniature hammer resting in the centre of his hand.

"Big hammer, little hammer, grow grow grow!" I was about to ask what the hell it was that had made him say such a weird little chant, but then his hammer suddenly expanded into the thing I remembered seeing the night he had run into me and Ciel at the park.

"Wow…" I was utterly speechless. It would be so much easier if my stupid katana could shrink too! Then I could always have it with me, and not have to rely on other people saving me because there was no way to bring the dumb sword with me without raising suspicion.

"Are you ready to start?" He asked almost teasingly as he rested his giant hammer against his shoulder, watching me. Unfortunately for me, people were already starting to gather, drawn by Lavi's weird chant. Grasping my katana tightly in my hands I stared across at him, trying not to pay too much attention to the quickly growing crowd.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be I guess." Lavi gave a brief nod before charging at me, swinging that giant hammer of his in my direction. Crying out in fear I jumped back, barely dodging his first swing, before holding Athena in front of my face to block the second swing. The impact made my arms shake and I glared at him from around our weapons.

"Too much power?" He asked innocently, his voice still teasing as I glared daggers at him.

"No, I'm fine." Putting on a brave front wasn't the smartest thing I had ever done. He broke contact, jumping back and pointing his hammer at me. There were some jeers and shouts from the observers, which I ignored as I steadied myself, trying to figure out what he was going to do next. His eye had a glint of mischievousness in it, and I swallowed nervously.

"Extend!" He shouted, and I resisted the urge to scream as his hammer came hurtling towards me. Making a split second decision I decided not to jump out of the way. Instead I swung my katana; hitting the side of the hammer as it came into reach and knocking it off course just far enough for it to miss me. I let out a sigh of relief. My arms were killing me, because Lavi was really going all out even though it was just a sparring match, and my first one as well.

"That has got to be cheating!" I shouted back at him as I dived to the side, avoiding the hammer as it shrank back to its previous length. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins, but I was also getting pissed off.

"Lay off would you? Or did you forget I'm injured?" Unfortunately Lavi didn't have a clue what I had just said, since my anger had confused my language skills a bit and it had come out in Greek. The spectators all turned to me, astounded by my little outburst. Most of them probably didn't speak English, so they hadn't understood anything that we had been saying up until then.

Lavi just ignored me, swinging his hammer down at me from above. With nowhere to run to I held Athena above my head, gripping the hilt for dear life, and braced myself for impact. My arms quivered and shook violently as the hammer made contact with the blade, but I managed to hold it up. I'm pretty sure that when Lavi had seen that I wasn't going to dodge he had lowered the speed and the force so that I wouldn't get crushed. He didn't want me to die after all.

My legs were shaking now too, and I sank to my knees on the dusty ground, letting out a grunt of annoyance. My pale blue denim shorts were now covered in brown dust, and my arms were still up above my head keeping the giant innocence hammer at bay. I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate all my energy on keeping it off my head.

When the weight suddenly disappeared a let out a small sound of surprise, dropping Athena on the ground in front of me as I opened my eyes. The crowd started to cheer and clap, and I saw Lavi's hammer shrink back to pocket size. Looking down at myself I saw that my hands were shaking, so I rested them in my lap as I changed into a more comfortable sitting position. I wasn't so sure that I would be able to get up any time soon.

"Nice job." Lavi commented, holding out a hand to help me up. I gladly accepted it, letting him pull me to my feet before he grabbed Athena for me.

All of a sudden we were surrounded by guardsmen, all of them cheering and throwing around congratulations and thanks for the 'show' as they called it. When the older men left us alone some of the younger guys came over to us, supposedly the guards in training. I was trying not to show it but I was leaning heavily on Lavi, I was that exhausted. One of them clapped me on the back, smiling, and I looked over at him, attempting a weak smile of my own.

He stayed behind, and together he and Lavi helped me back to my room, this time using the door instead of the window, for it just didn't seem right to go that way when we had company. When we got back to my room I collapsed on my bed, drawing an odd look from Sebastian who had been sitting on the window seat, apparently watching our little match.

"He could have killed me." I muttered accusingly at Sebastian. "Why didn't you intervene?" The demon's red eyes glanced down at me, a hint of amusement in their depths.

"I knew he wouldn't hurt you." Was his simple reply. I rolled over on my bed, ignoring the fact that I was getting dust everywhere.

"That's a stupid reason. One of these days you're going to be wrong, and then what?" His pupils flashed to slits as he glared at me, not liking what I was insinuating. Lavi cleared his throat awkwardly and I looked back at him and the other boy.

"Sorry." I apologised sheepishly, having completely forgotten that they were still there.

"There's three more days. I suggest that you rest for most of that time." I nodded as I kicked off my shoes.

"That was a really amazing fight." The other boy perked up, speaking in Greek since he had heard me speak it, otherwise he probably wouldn't have bothered approaching us. "I have never seen someone fight with a hammer before." He directed that last part at Lavi, but since Lavi couldn't understand him I translated.

"Hey, I'd love to stick around and chat for a while, but I'm exhausted, so I think I'll take a little nap." Yeah right, like I was going to take a nap. I was just going to sit here and examine my arms for bruising, but I still wanted some peace and quiet in order to do so.

"Yeah, good point. I should probably go and find the old panda; he'll probably want my help with something." Lavi gave me another smile before turning and leaving, dragging the Greek boy along with him.

"Sebastian." I called after the two had left.

"Mmm?" Something told me he wasn't really listening.

"Never let me spar with an exorcist ever again." He laughed at that, a dark, low laugh that chilled my core. Demons shouldn't laugh, it's just unnatural.

Rolling over on my bed once more I saw a digital camera on my bedside table. Curious I reached out and grabbed it, turning it on and switching to picture viewing mode. Normally I wouldn't go through someone else's camera – unless it was Emma's – but this was different. Sort of.

The latest pictures on the camera were of me and Lavi's sparring match, and most of them were of me. It was interesting; it almost looked as though I actually knew what I was doing.

Getting out my laptop I copied the pictures onto the hard drive, making sure not to accidentally delete any from the camera so that when the owner came back they wouldn't have a clue what I had done. It's not like I was ever going to show the pictures to anyone, but it would make a nice memory, pictures of me looking like a real warrior and not some weakling like the people at my school seemed to think I was.

I yawned, apparently even more exhausted than I had thought I was. I quickly shut down my laptop and put it along with the camera back in their rightful places before collapsing back onto my bed, eyelids drifting shut as I succumbed to sleep.

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><p><strong>AN: Awesome, 2 chapter updates in 2 days! I could have finished this chapter yesterday, but my mum dragged me out to some stupid concert at the new stadium. I hate concerts! They're too noisy and crowded, urgh. Anyway, next chapter shall be actiony! (and yes, I know that's not a word). Do you lot remember the Noah? Well try and guess which one will be making a guest appearance next chappy!**


	18. Under Attack: The Noah

**Chapter 18**

The last free days before our job was due to begin went by quickly. I had taken to hiding out in the library in an attempt to avoid not only Ricardo but Prince Bakkhos and the boy from the training ground as well. The heat made my temper rise up, and I wasn't good at dealing with people when I was angry. It worked out better for everyone, or at least it did in my own selfish mind. For the last three days, and this morning as well, I had been sitting curled up in one of the armchairs in the library reading books about Greek mythology while wondering whether innocence had ever come in to play in the country's history. Not that I was going to pick up a proper history book and find out.

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><p>That was then. Now I was busy getting ready for guard duty at the palace, for the celebration of Prince Gregorios's (or Greg as I had decided to call him) sixteenth birthday. Bookman had still been unsure about the likelihood of any Akuma attack, so I was going to take the initiative and prepare for the worst case scenario. Not that I would be doing anything different either way, it would just mean that if something did happen I could say that I had expected it.<p>

Staring at the clothes I had lain out on the bed I tried to decide what I should wear under my jacket. It was too hot to wear my uniform shirt, so I eventually picked a white tank top. Picking it up I went into the bathroom to change, since that was the only room where I knew Sebastian wouldn't suddenly appear out of nowhere.

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><p>Exiting the bathroom I went and sat down on the edge of my bed. My uniform was all black, so I knew I would be burning up unless they had some decent air conditioners. I quickly pushed that line of thinking to the back of my mind, concentrating instead on shoving my feet into my combat boots. Once that was done I got to my feet and turned around to face my bed. I picked up Athena, holding it in my hands for a moment before strapping it to my waist. Today was the one day I was actually allowed to wander the halls with my katana, so I was going to take advantage of it.<p>

There was a loud knock at my bedroom door, and before I had a chance to say anything it swung open, revealing the young red headed exorcist as he wandered into my room. And that was yet another reason why I had taken to changing in the bathroom.

"Hey Jas, are you ready to go?" He asked, sounding more serious than he usually did. I nodded; giving my hair a quick tug to make sure it wasn't going to come out of its ponytail. Turning around fully I straightened my jacket before following him out into the hallway, shutting the door behind me. I had no idea where we were going, because I was a bit directionally challenged, not to mention I hadn't exactly made an effort to learn the layout of the palace.

"Lavi," I started nervously, unsure how to word what I wanted to ask. He turned his head to the side, watching me. "umm… do you think they'll let us eat lots at the party?" I chickened out. What had I been going to ask him? It was nothing particularly embarrassing, but it just didn't seem like a good time to ask.

He laughed, acting light-hearted again even though I knew it was an act. Today he was absolutely, 100% serious, and I decided that it was because of the uncertain circumstances of what we were going to be doing. No-one out of the loop seemed to seriously expect anything to happen, but there must have been other incidents before the one I had heard about in town, otherwise there would have been absolutely no reason for the monarchs to ask the Black Order to provide them with security.

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><p>Lavi pushed open one of the double doors and held it open to let me walk in before him. The throne room had been decorated extravagantly, with tables and seats and all sorts of expensive looking party decorations. It seemed a bit overboard, my birthdays since Sebastian came had been even more subdued than they had been when my parents were around. I had never been to a party that had so many… streamers everywhere. I'm sure Greg was going to be rather embarrassed once he stepped foot in the hall.<p>

Re-orientating myself I turned and walked up towards the dais, stopping just before it and opting to lean against one of the columns to wait out the party. Lavi could stand elsewhere and Bookman somewhere else again, and then if something happened we would hopefully be able to help everyone.

Pretty much no-one was here yet. I guess the important people where going to be making their grand entrances in due time. Since I had nothing better to do I took a good look around the throne room, taking in all the things I hadn't noticed the first time, such as the massive glass sliding doors at the opposite end of the hall. They had been opened up, and they led out onto a large expanse of lawn, past which you could see citizens lined up by the gate at the edge of the palace boundaries, hoping for a chance to see good old Greg I assumed.

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><p>A trumpet sounded and I flinched, standing at attention nonetheless. I mean seriously? A trumpet? That is way too old-fashioned for my liking, but there was nothing I could do about it, not without trying to claim the throne, which was definitely not up there on my to-do list.<p>

Thaleia and Alexandros swept into the room in all their majestic royal people clothes, followed shortly after by First Prince Bakkhos and Second Prince Gregorios, also in extravagant clothing that I would die wearing. I averted my gaze, not wanting to accidentally make eye contact with that irritating Bakkhos, who I still couldn't think up a nickname for. He was the bane of my existence, for now anyway, with the way he gave me that knowing smirk when I dared to look up.

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><p><strong>.:Sometime a little later on:.<strong>

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><p>Greg was not enjoying himself. He had on one of those fake smiles that famous people always managed to perfect, but I knew it was just that, a fake smile. No sixteen year old in their right mind would want a party like this, it was too adult and too extravagant, even for someone raised as royalty. I felt bad for him, and I almost went over to him so that he could talk to someone his own age, but then I remembered that I was only security.<p>

"Lady Jasmine, where have you been all week?" A voice asked from my right. Turning my head I saw the Captain standing next to me, looking frantic.

"In the library." I threw back at him. It wasn't a lie; it was just going to sound like one. He had actually looked for me in the library a few times, but whenever I had heard the door opening I would hide behind the chair, avoiding contact with palace employees and members of the royal family alike.

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><p>A strange hush fell over the room as two sets of footsteps could be heard heading towards the dais. Turning my gaze to them my heart skipped a beat and I almost forgot to breathe. There were two men heading towards the monarchs, and one of them looked a hell of a lot like my missing, presumed dead brother Richard.<p>

They didn't seem to notice the hush that followed them; they seemed too intent on walking to the dais. Something felt off about the whole thing, so I quickly pulled up the hood of my jacket before making my way over to intercept them.

"State your name and purpose." I demanded coldly, holding my arms out and averting my eyes so that my hair fell in front of them. The older man laughed, giving me a quick look.

"Oh isn't that cute? They have exorcists here." My head shot up at that, hood falling back and revealing my face. The person I thought to be Richard let out a strangled noise of confusion, and I stared wide-eyed at the older man.

"What do you mean 'they have exorcists here'?" Richard and I called out in sync, both utterly confused by what the man with oddly grey tinted skin had just said. He looked vaguely amused by our synchronised outburst, studying us both.

"Siblings? How cute. But now is not the time for precious family reunions." There was a loud explosion, and Richard's worried violet eyes met my own before I looked past them only to see a small army of Akuma streaming in through the doors from outside.

"LAVI!" I yelled over the noise as people started to realise that they were under attack and began screaming and running around. Really, why do they always run around? It just makes it harder for the saviours to do their thing.

I jumped back a step, pulling Athena off of my belt as I watched the approaching cloud of what I hoped were level 1 Akuma. The grey man smiled, while Richard looked a bit unnerved by it all, but he wasn't moving either way. I saw rather than heard Lavi activating his innocence when a giant hammer came into view, smashing several Akuma to the ground.

"Now would be a really good time for you to work…" I mumbled quietly to myself, taking a deep breath. There was a strange sensation in my throat, and something told me that I shouldn't breathe out while facing towards anyone. So I faced the oncoming Akuma, lifted my chin, and exhaled. To my surprise, along with probably everyone else in the room, what came out of my mouth was not air, but fire. I was breathing fire.

The Akuma screamed as the flames hit them, the army disintegrating one by one as they fought amongst each other, using each other as shields to try and get past me. When most of them were gone and Lavi was dealing with the rest I managed to find the off switch. I was exhausted and drained, but before I had a chance to do anything the older man had appeared in front of me.

"Jasmine! Get away from him! He's a Noah!" Lavi's voice reached my ears amongst the chaos but I couldn't understand what he was saying. Noah? As in the Noah from Noah's Ark? That was completely absurd. The man grinned, tilting his head ever so slightly to one side in a way that made his fringe move, revealing a series of black crosses on his forehead.

"What the hell?" I managed to whisper, the only thing running through my head at that moment in time being why on earth anyone would choose THERE to get a ton of tattoos.

"Well well girly, it seems you are a real exorcist after all. I thought you might have just been playing dress up, what with the way you were acting, but no, you are the real deal." I self-consciously placed a hand on the back of my neck, covering the innocence fragment embedded there.

"That innocence of yours though, it's a very strange one. I'm sure the Earl would want to see it, but I don't really have the patience to be lugging around two extra people." I stared at him, not fully comprehending what he was saying.

"Who are you?" I demanded once more, trying to sound stronger than I was feeling. He straightened up, hair falling back into its original place. Leaning closer he whispered in my ear.

"Tyki Mikk. I'm the one who killed your parents." He then proceeded to put his hand THROUGH my neck, I'm not even joking, he went straight through it, and tried to grab the innocence fragment. I froze up, not daring to move in case something awful came about from it. I saw him frown as he flexed his fingers, trying to grab it but apparently not being able to.

"It figures." He muttered angrily. "If it is the Heart then maybe it has some special defences." He tried one last time, only to be repelled by a flash of almost sickly purple light, forcing his hand out of my neck. I let out a strangled cry of shock before sinking to my knees on the stairs, holding my neck as though my head was going to fall off.

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><p><strong>AN: Well this just proves it. I really can't be bothered studying for exams. I should be trying harder really, but I'm not. Next chapter update? I have no idea. But 3 in four days is pretty good if I do say so myself :) Until next time loyal readers. Oh, and did you guess right? Did you guess that it would be Tyki? Or did you think it might have been Road? If you guessed right you can have a cookie :)**


	19. Grell's Declaration

**A/N: Just so you know, I wrote the next chapter long before I wrote this one, so I was kind of working backwards when I wrote this chapter. If it seems to get a little rambly at the end it was because I was trying to figure out a good way to merge it with the start of the next chapter**

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><p><strong>Chapter 19: Grell's Declaration<strong>

I wrapped my arms around my waist as I sat on the stairs that led up to the dais, tears streaming down my face. Sebastian had decided to make his appearance and looked absolutely furious that someone had basically tried to kill me in his absence. The crowd of people that still remained in the throne room were all watching me, for after all I had been breathing fire a moment ago.

Light footsteps sounded behind me as Thaleia came down from her throne. She had watched as Tyki and Richard had made their escape, trying to memorise their faces since no-one had been making any attempt to stop them from leaving. She placed a gentle hand on my shoulder before arranging her dress so that she could sit down next to me.

"It's okay to cry honey." She whispered soothingly to me as she wrapped her arms around me, enclosing me in a hug that had Greg wondering what the hell was going on. Her hand brushed against my forehead and she froze, spinning me around to face her. I stared at her with cold eyes that betrayed no emotion as she lifted my fringe off of my forehead.

"Demon…" The word slipped out of her mouth as her violet eyes widened in fear, quickly dropping my fringe back onto my forehead. I scrubbed furiously at my eyes, erasing the tear tracks, before pushing out of her arms and bumping into Sebastian who had appeared behind me.

"Maybe their beliefs are closer to the truth than people give them credit for." I murmured to him as he helped me to my feet. Greg stepped forward, but when he noticed my angry glare he stopped, eying me with a confused expression from where he was.

"Jasmine! Hey, are you alright?" Lavi called, running over to where I was standing, leaning heavily on Sebastian. My foot slipped on the edge of the step and I nearly fell, but my ever present black butler grabbed my arm, steadying me. I was putting on a tough act, but in truth I felt awful. My entire body was shaking, just like the time when I had sparred with Lavi, except this time it wasn't from exhaustion.

Lavi put a hand gently on my shoulder, making me flinch. I tightened my grip on Athena before letting out a shocked gasp and dropping the innocence sword to the ground. My arm was burning, my neck too, and I clutched the part of my arm which was marked with the symbol of the contract as I grit my teeth, collapsing to my knees once more. Lavi knelt down in front of me, trying to look into my eyes, but all I could look at was the faint purple glow showing from the cuff of my jacket sleeve. My head snapped back and I stared up at Sebastian, who was staring at his white gloved hand, which to my wary eye was also tinted.

"Sebastian, I… I don't know what's happening." His eyes met mine and he picked me up in his arms, drawing cries of protest and confusion from the crowd of people in the hall. Lavi climbed to his feet and, after having a silent conversation with Bookman, picked Athena up and gave Sebastian a meaningful look. The demon glared at the exorcist before shrugging, trying not to jostle me too much in his arms.

"Mum…" I could feel my mind drifting, and I was shocked to hear that word coming out of my mouth. I hadn't used that word in three years. Sebastian glanced down at me, just as startled by my outburst as I was. He spun on his heels and marched swiftly out of the throne room, Lavi following as best he could as he attempted to keep up with Sebastian's demon speed.

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><p>"Hey, butler guy, what's wrong with her?" Lavi demanded as he ran down the corridors. Sebastian glared at him as he opened the door to my room.<p>

"I have no idea." Hearing Sebastian admit it made me freeze up inside. He was ancient and all-knowing, so if he didn't know then I was in serious trouble. He turned to set me down on the bed, but someone was already lying there.

"Grell! Get the-" I doubled over in Sebastian's arms, coughing. "Get the hell off my bed!" The red haired shinigami pouted before reluctantly moving out of the way, allowing Sebastian to put me on the bed. I collapsed against the pillows, breathing heavily, and let Sebastian continue the interrogation.

"Grell…" He started threateningly, only to find that Grell wasn't paying attention.

"Who's this cutie hmm?" He asked, examining Lavi who had been caught as he tried to get to the other side of the bed. "He has the most gorgeous red hair, even nicer than yours dear." He shot me a sympathetic look. "Where have you been hiding him?" Lavi looked extremely uncomfortable and I tried to sit up, failing miserably.

"Grell… leave Lavi… alone… okay?" I gasped out, clutching my arm and trying my best to glare at the gender confused reaper.

"What are you doing here?" Sebastian demanded, starting to sound irritated. He wasn't used to being ignored.

"Ah Sebas-chan, I wish I could say that I was here to see you, but I'm afraid I'm here on business." Grell then proceeded to sit on the end of my bed and pat my boots with his free, non-scythe wielding hand.

"Explain yourself Grell Sutcliffe." Now that Grell was distracted Lavi moved around the bed and sat on the edge near my head, watching me with worry in his one visible eye. Grell sighed in annoyance, reaching into one of the pockets of his red cloak and pulling out a small notebook. He flipped through it, making a triumphant noise when he found what he was looking for.

"Jasmine Mariabel Phantomhive-Dionysus, 15th June, cause of death unknown." He read off one of the pages before handing it to Sebastian, who glared at the page before reluctantly handing it back.

"Grell… I'm not… dying…" I choked out, letting go of my arm to demand to see the notebook, which he handed over to me. I cautiously flipped through the pages, eyes widening as I came to a realisation. I met his eyes and he nodded, guessing what it was that I was about to ask.

"Yes, you are the only entry that has an unknown cause of death, because that just doesn't happen. If it's 'unknown' to humans it will normally say something like blood loss or heart failure in here." He snapped it shut and put the little book of death away in his pocket. Lavi sent a bewildered glance my way, which I ignored. A wave of heat washed over me and I cried out, bolting up into a sitting position and ripping my jacket off, throwing it at Grell who glared at me, pushing it off onto the ground.

"What the hell is that?" Lavi asked, pointing at the source of the purple glow covering my arm. I tried to glare at him, but it felt like someone was stabbing me in the back of the neck, so I quickly collapsed back onto the bed, accidentally kicking Grell, the bearer of bad news.

"Watch it!" He whined, moving out of the way in the hopes that he would be able to prevent getting kicked again. I curled up into a ball, clutching my arm as it erupted in a more intense wave of pain. Sebastian was pacing the room furiously, not happy in the least with what Grell had predicted to us. If I died here then Sebastian wouldn't be able to claim my soul, since the contract would remain incomplete, and he would have wasted three years on a dead end meal.

"Grell you had better be wrong about this..." He muttered angrily, pausing in his structured pacing to send a threatening glare at the red reaper. Grell shrugged his shoulders, and I swore that I could see a hint of sympathy and possibly almost sadness in his eyes. But it quickly disappeared, and I cried out once more in shock as a cold wave trickled down the back of my neck, meaning that my neck was frozen while my arm was on fire.

"Jasmine!" Lavi held my gaze and I began trembling. I was scared out of my mind. A shinigami's notebook was never going to be wrong, and I was already an anomaly in one way, there was no way it was going to happen twice and let me off the hook.

There were footsteps that sounded out in the hallway and I looked over at Sebastian, who nodded before opening the door and checking the corridor.

"There's no-one out there mistress." I groaned, someone had been listening, and they were a fast runner.

"This really... isn't turning out... to be my day... hmm?" I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the canopy of the bed. The hot and cold flushes were starting to get to me, blurring my thoughts and confusing me. Nothing seemed quite right anymore, I could almost hear a whispering voice that didn't seem to belong to anyone in the room. It was hanging at the edge of my awareness, just loud enough for me to tell that something was there.

"_The heart…"_ The voice finally reached my ears, it sounded like a small child, or possibly a young girl.

"What… do you want…?" I murmured, unsure of whether the speaker would be able to hear me. Lavi watched me nervously as I rolled onto my side.

"_You have the heart…"_ I curled tighter into myself as the cold and heat intensified.

"Grell… I know what you can put… for cause of death… now. Hypothermia… heat stroke… and confusing voices…" They all turned to stare at me, more than a little bit confused at what I had just said. Lavi put his hand on my forehead, somehow not showing any signs of surprise at the scar there.

"What are you talking about Jas? You don't have a fever. Your temperature is normal." I shook my head and rolled onto my stomach, putting his hand on the back of my neck. He immediately drew away, staring at the innocence fragment as it glowed a dull blue.

"Woah, your neck is freezing!" He cried out, glancing worriedly at my glowing arm.

"Mmhm." I mumbled into the pillow, trying to ignore the voice as I rolled back over onto my back again.

"_Go to sleep now…"_ I shook my head.

"No… I don't want… to go to sleep…"

"Who on earth is she talking to?" Grell wondered out loud, watching me from behind his red framed glasses.

"_Go to sleep now little exorcist…"_ I groaned, sprawling out on the bed instead of curling up into a ball.

"Exorcist…? No… don't want to… sleep…" Somehow or another the voice was getting to me, I could feel myself wanting to go to sleep, but I fought it. If I went to sleep now I would probably never wake up again, and I would never forgive myself for it.

"Exorcists?" Grell asked interestedly. "They still have those in this day and age? I would have thought that they stopped using exorcists a long time ago, but apparently not." Lavi stared at Grell incredulously, probably wondering how he had known about exorcists in the first place, and whether he was talking about the same sort of exorcists or if he was talking about the priests who exorcised spirits and such.

I could feel my body relaxing as the fire raged through my arm, gasping as the flames seemed to meet the ice, creating a different sort of pain, a real pain. I shut my eyes and fisted my hands in the sheets, trying my best not to succumb to sleep, but it was overwhelming me, and I could feel my consciousness slipping away from me with every second. Opening my eyes I reached out one arm towards Lavi and he grabbed my hand. It was my right hand, the arm that had the contract mark on it, and I could tell that he could now feel the heat radiating off of my arm. My eyes drifted shut again and the sounds of the world faded away, leaving me blanketed in silent darkness.


	20. Mysterious Circumstances

**A/N: As I mentioned in the last chapter, I wrote this chapter a long time ago, so if the writing seems a little different for some random reason then that's why, okay?**

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><p><strong>Lavi's POV<strong>

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><p>I held her hand in my own as I sat on the chair next to her bed. She appeared to be unconscious now, and I was starting to get worried. Maybe the red cloaked man's strange and grim prediction was coming true after all. I shook my head, refusing to believe it. Jasmine can't, no, she won't die here today. Smiling weakly I looked down at her pale face, partially covered by coppery strands of hair. If only thinking something could make it happen. Her hand twitched, and I placed my other hand over the top of hers, wondering if she was going to wake up. It turned out to be the exact opposite. I paled as I felt the warmth leave her hand.<p>

"No!" I cried in frustration. "This can't be happening!" Her strange butler seemed to be extremely pissed off, but other than that he wasn't showing even a single emotion. He glared angrily at the red haired man, who sighed unhappily and picked up his chainsaw.

"You know it's a real shame Sebas-chan." He said quietly to the butler. "I really did like her. She had such wonderful hair." He started the motor of his chainsaw and swung it up in the air.

"Hold on, what the hell are you doing?" I yelled, confused and entirely out of the loop of whatever mutual agreement the two men had. They must have had an agreement, because Sebastian made no move to stop the chainsaw wielding madman. There was an awful moment when everything slowed down. The chainsaw arced down towards Jasmine while the black butler stood by and watched. I was helpless to do anything; all I could do was watch it happen. I cried out in horror at the sickening thud when the chainsaw made contact with her shoulder. For some unfathomable reason however, the chainsaw was immediately pulled away again.

"Was that really necessary Grell?" Sebastian asked, annoyed. "We both know it won't change the outcome." Grell put his chainsaw down with a guilty look on his face.

"I know, but it's a part of my job. If I didn't do it then Will would punish me. He might even take away my scythe again." Sebastian spared a moment to glare at Grell, but they both turned to stare intently at the air above Jasmine. I tried to figure out what they were looking at, but there was nothing there. Something was seriously weird about the two of them.

"So that's how it happened…" Grell muttered, the tone of his voice was interested and grief-stricken at the same time. Sebastian nodded his head, not saying a word. "I have to admit Sebas-chan, that even if you weren't around she would still have to die here today. Threatening and blackmailing a government official? She hasn't exactly led a pure life." I frowned.

"What are you talking about? Jas would never do something like that!" Grell gave me a piercing stare.

"You really don't know her very well, do you?" I flinched, knowing it was the truth. Suddenly Jasmine was surrounded by an eerie purple glow. "What the hell?" Grell cried in confusion, dropping his chainsaw.

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><p><strong>Normal (Jasmine's) POV<strong>

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><p>I was floating in a black abyss. I couldn't see anything at all. Outside I could hear voices, voices I knew, like Lavi and Grell. I could still feel Lavi's hand as he held mine. Slowly everything began to fade away until I was left with nothing but the endless darkness of the abyss.<p>

_Is this what it means to be dead?_ I wondered to myself, surprised by the fact that if I was indeed dead, I still had my consciousness with me. Suddenly the abyss was filled with colour and I was literally watching my life flash before me.

_This must be Grell's handiwork._ I mused as I wondered just how mad Sebastian would be at me for dying before we had fulfilled the contract. Something tugged on the edge of my awareness and I spun, seeing something that glowed purple. Beside it was a small figure, which I gradually began to make out as I drifted closer to the purple glow. It was a young girl, or at least she seemed young. She had black hair and her skin seemed oddly… grey. She stood next to the purple object, smirking at me and motioning for me to take it. My spirit reached out and grabbed it, thinking that it was my contract pentagram, but it wasn't. The purple glow expanded, filling the entire abyss. I could hear the voices again, and I could feel the soft mattress under my back.

"What the hell?" Grell cried in shock. "She's rewinding her own cinematic record! But she's dead! Last time it happened it was because that Phantomhive brat was still alive!" Somehow his harsh words soothed me. If Ciel could do it then so could I. I managed to open my mouth and took in a massive gulp of air. Lavi jumped back as I bolted upright. Coughing violently I doubled over, trying to regulate my breathing. The strangest thing was that I was actually breathing out tiny purple flames every time I coughed. When I had calmed down a bit I glanced down at my shoulder, noting the rip Grell had made in my brand new white singlet top.

"Grell, you ruined my top!" I whined, before coughing again. Sebastian looked relieved but there was something else there as well. Anger? Confusion? I wasn't sure, but I knew it was a good sign. Getting to my feet I grabbed a fistful of red and stared angrily into Grell's eyes.

"What happened?" I demanded, giving him a shove. He took a breath to talk but I was overcome by another coughing fit, having to lean against him for support. Lavi had fallen off the edge of the bed and was now sitting wide-eyed on the floor, a witness to my outburst of anger.

"When you rewound your cinematic record part of it was blank." Sebastian stated quietly. I looked up at him.

"Blank? But that means…" Turning back to Grell I yelled at him. "What happened? What's wrong with my soul?" He glared at me and I noticed that I was pulling his hair. Letting go I sat on the edge of the bed and waited for him to explain himself. He pulled his notebook back out of one of the pockets in his coat and flipped it open.

"Strangely enough this little event hasn't upset my soul balance. That's odd…" I cleared my throat, reminding him that we were waiting for answers. "Oh, right. Well you damaged your soul when you forcefully rewound your cinematic record. Around three years of your memory have been lost." I frowned, thinking.

"But I can still remember everything." I protested.

"They were probably your earliest memories, which is lucky for you, because you probably couldn't access them before anyway. The problem lies with how the memories were lost." I tilted my head to one side, not really sure what he was getting at.

"Didn't you just say that I lost them due to the way I used force on my cinematic record?" He nodded, glad I was paying attention.

"The problem is that it's not a case of amnesia. Part of your soul physically splintered off, taking those memories with it." I glanced over at Sebastian who was fuming angrily in the corner of the room.

"How much of my soul is gone?" I asked tentatively, not really wanting to know. Grell did a quick calculation in his head.

"Almost a quarter of it." The shock from his answer started me off on another coughing fit, resulting in me nearly setting the sheets on fire. There was a thud and when I looked up Sebastian was holding Grell up in the air by his throat. Grell had kicked the bed and seemed to be struggling to breath.

"Stop it Sebastian. You know what will happen if you kill him. He's a shinigami for crying out loud." He glared at me before letting go.

"That hurt Sebas-chan." Grell whined, rubbing his neck. I sat down on the floor next to Grell, ignoring Lavi who was still freaking out in the corner.

"Do you know where it went?" Grell shook his head. "Do you know of a way we can find out?" He began to shake his head again but paused, thinking.

"You could always ask Will, or you could ask the legendary shinigami. He might be able to tell you."

"Who's the legendary shinigami?" I asked at the same time as Sebastian said "I hardly think the Undertaker will be of any use to us." Turning around I looked up at Sebastian.

"You told me about him. I remember it now; he was at the shinigami library when you were trying to save Ciel from the angel."

"Why are you guys talking about shinigami and angels?" Lavi called from the corner, utterly lost and confused by our conversation. Getting up I walked over to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Lavi, I want you to promise me that you won't breath a word of this to Bookman." I pleaded with my eyes and he eventually nodded, promising his silence. "Thanks, I owe you one." I whispered quietly so Sebastian and Grell wouldn't hear me.

"What do you want me to do?" Sebastian asked me, giving Grell a deadly glare. I thought about it for a moment before deciding to let him have his way.

"You can get rid of Grell, we don't need him anymore." Sebastian happily obliged, picking the reaper up and throwing him out the window, closely followed by his scythe which, if Grell's cry of pain was any indicator, landed on top of him, probably somewhere extremely painful. I stretched my arms up over my head, and I mean really stretched, something I shouldn't have been able to do due to my side injury. Intrigued, I went into the bathroom to check it out. Standing in front of the mirror I rolled up my shirt and unravelled the bandages, revealing an almost invisible scar in the place of the knife wound. _That's weird._ Curious, I checked my shoulder where Grell had cut me with his death scythe. Surely there was no way that could have healed too. But it had, I couldn't see it at all. Finally I lifted my fringe, hoping that the hideous scar on my forehead would also be gone. My hopes were shattered as I saw it was still there. Admittedly it had healed properly this time, but it was still highly visible, unlike the other two.

"Fuck this." I muttered, cursing the luck that decided to be picky. I didn't really have any reason to be mad though, since I was alive. Yanking my shirt back down I wandered back into the room to find that Lavi had recovered a bit after Grell's departure. I sat down cross-legged on the bed in front of him, making him look up.

"Lavi?" His gaze didn't appear to be frightened or scared, it was a cold, calculating gaze that met my own. His single green eye was devoid of emotion, and he reminded me momentarily of Bookman. He was staring up at me in the same way that Bookman always watched me. I rubbed the back of my neck self-consciously, trying to sort my thoughts.

"Something unnatural has happened here." I brushed my hair out of my eyes and resisted the temptation to scoff at his statement. Someone dying and coming back to life without resuscitation? Of course that's unnatural! I sighed, dropping my hand onto the bed as I glanced over at Sebastian. He shrugged. It didn't matter to him what I told Lavi, as long as I kept my end of the contract. Although there were some things we needed to do before the contract came properly back into play again.

_My soul has splintered…_ Shaking my head I stared straight into Lavi's calculating eye, taking a deep breath.

"Where do you want me to start?" I breathed after a long silence, resigning myself to the fact that I was in for a long explanation.


	21. The Past Revealed

**Chapter 21: The Past Revealed**

_A young girl, twelve years old, walked happily up the stairs of her mansion like house, bag hanging off her shoulder. She had just gotten home from school and wanted to talk to her brother about something that one of the guys in her class had brought up. Dropping her school bag in her bedroom she kicked off her shoes before padding down the hallway in her long black socks._

"_Richard?" She couldn't be bothered searching through the entire house trying to find her brother, so she resorted to shouting instead. "Richard, are you here?" He hadn't had school that day, since his school had had a teacher only day. She got no response and she frowned, tugging on a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her eyes._

"_He must have gone out…" Now rather depressed the girl wandered back downstairs, heading for the kitchen to find something to eat. Normally her mother was somewhere near the kitchen when she got home, but today her mother was nowhere to be found. She bit her lip, starting to get worried. At least one of her parents was always home when she got back from school, they had to be since she wasn't allowed to be at home alone._

"_Mum? Dad?" She got no response, so she headed through to her parents study. She wasn't supposed to go in there without permission, but sometimes when they were in there they couldn't hear what was going on in the rest of the house. The door was open partway, and she pushed it open even further, stepping into the room._

"_Mum?" She called out one last time before her gaze drifted down to the floor. Her eyes widened in shock and she screamed as she stared into the lifeless eyes of her father as he lay face up on the carpet. Her screaming ripped all of the air out of her lungs and it echoed through the house, amplifying as it bounced off the walls._

_No-one ran to her aid, no-one else was home. Her mother's lifeless body was also in the study, by the window, and she turned around, still screaming, and ran out of the room. She ran outside and collapsed in the garden, sobbing and trying to catch her breath. That was when the hands came out of nowhere, clamping over her mouth and dragging her away from everything she had known._

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><p>I blinked back tears, taking a breather from telling Lavi the story of my life. It was the only way I could think of that would help me to explain what was happening, but it was the first time I had actually told anyone about it. I hadn't needed to tell Sebastian, he had already known when I summoned him. Lavi stared, watching me with patient eyes, waiting for me to continue, since he knew I wasn't finished.<p>

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><p><em>Echoing voices brought the young girl back to consciousness. Her violet eyes scanned the room she was in, wide with fright and confusion as she saw shadowy figures at the edge of her vision. She tried to move, but found that she was tied down. Lifting her head she glared at the shadowy figures, flinching when something brushed against her neck. She hated it when people touched her neck, because of her strange birthmark. That was why she had begged her mother to let her grow her hair out as long as it was.<em>

_A figure stepped forward out of the shadows, but she thought that her eyes must have been playing tricks on her since they still seemed to be shadowy, a strange grey colour. As they stood in front of her she felt the straps loosen, letting her move. It was only a momentary relief though, for someone grabbed her arms and forced her to her knees on the ground in front of the grey figure._

_She glared up through her fringe at the person, who knelt down in front of her and reached out. Their hand seemed to disappear when it reached her throat, and she tried to cry out in fear, only to have a hand clamped over her mouth once more. The hand reappeared and the grey man scowled, slapping her face and causing her head to snap to the left, making her let out a muffled cry of outrage._

_Something hot pressed up against the small of her back and her eyes widened, tearing up as she tried to scream through the hand over her mouth. The heat dissipated, and the hands let her go, allowing her to fall forward to the ground. The figures retreated from the room, and a loud click confirmed that they had locked the door behind them._

_She reached behind her to feel her back, but she couldn't tell what they had done. Picking herself up off the floor she spun around in a slow circle, examining the room. Groaning she sank back to her knees on the dark floor, seeing no way for her to escape._

"_My parents are dead…" Reality was sinking in quickly, and she stared at her hands, fisting them. Crying out in frustration she punched the ground, catching her knuckle on the floor which made it bleed. She muttered a curse as she cradled her hand, ignoring the blood which dripped slowly to the floor._

"_I would give anything to get out of here." As soon as the words had left her mouth she knew it was true, and an ominous wind swept through the windowless room._

"_Would you be prepared to sell your soul?" The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She climbed to her feet, injured hand momentarily forgotten about. As far as she could tell she was still alone in the darkened room, but still, the voice had to be coming from somewhere._

"_If I let you have my soul will you help me?" There was silence for a moment, and she was scared that she had scared off her potential saviour. The darkness intensified in front of her before disappearing to reveal a tall black haired man with red eyes. He stepped towards her, and she held her ground._

"_In that case, I shall do as you desire until the time comes." He held out a hand to her and she accepted it, cringing when he dug a nail into her arm. When she looked down her arm wasn't bleeding like she had expected it to, instead there was a glowing purple pentagram._

_Something clicked in her mind and she remembered one of the stories of her ancestors that her mother had told her. It was rumoured that her great great uncle's butler hadn't been human, and his appearance matched that of the man standing before her._

"_Sebastian Michealis." The two words slipped from her mouth before she had a chance to think it through. The man gave her an odd look._

"_I haven't been addressed by that name in 70 years. Where did you hear it?" She shook her head, holding her hands behind her back._

"_Not now, I shall tell you later. For now I want you to get me away from here." The demon occasionally known as Sebastian nodded, preparing to get her out of the strange building where she had been locked away._

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><p>As the memories resurfaced I flinched, reaching up to my throat. That particular part of the events had been blocked from my mind for the entirety of my life since that night, and they shocked me as they poured out of my mouth. The man from my memory had a shocking resemblance to the man who had attacked me today, with his frightening obsession with putting his hand through my throat. It was more than a little intimidating to think that I had met him more than once in my life.<p>

"Jas are you okay?" Lavi asked, having snapped out of his calculating daze when I froze up and stopped talking. I shook my head, hugging my stomach as the events kept replaying themselves in my head. I saw shock in Lavi's eyes before I felt the slight pressure on the bed and the breath on my throat.

"Mistress? What is it?" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before responding to Sebastian.

"I just remembered something about that night. I know who it was now, who is responsible for everything. That man, the one Lavi said I should stay away from since he was a Noah, he told me that he killed my parents. Richard was with him. He was there too, that night. He tried the same thing just now that he tried on my 3 years ago." I glanced down at Lavi, before shutting my eyes again against the tears which once more threatened to overflow.

"What are you talking about Jas? You've met a Noah before?" I blinked in confusion.

"What? There is more than one Noah?" My thoughts drifted to the strange girl I had seen while I was 'dead'. "He must have forgotten what I had looked like, since he didn't show any signs of recognition until Richard got all fidgety."

There was a knock on the door which made me jump a foot in the air, which was an impressive feat since I was sitting down. A voice called out, calming me down since it was only Bookman. I nodded for Sebastian to let him in, giving Lavi a stern look as he did to make sure that he wasn't going to tell Bookman what I had told him.

"All of the guests have left the palace, and all remaining Akuma which had been hovering outside the palace have been dealt with." He reported in a monotone, giving me an odd look when I quickly hid my arm from his view. Picking my jacket up off the floor I put it back on in order to avoid a confrontation.

"I have also contacted headquarters; they will be sending the Ark for us in an hour, so you had best get ready to leave." I exchanged a confused look with Sebastian before turning to face Bookman.

"What is the Ark? What happened to the jet?" Bookman stared at me with a look that seemed to me as if it were saying I-can't-believe-you-don't-know before he cleared his throat.

"When we get back to headquarters we will talk. I have never seen innocence like that. It's elemental, and it shall require more research." His black rimmed eyes were serious, and I looked to Lavi for some sort of reassurance, but it seemed he couldn't give me any. He was too far lost in his own thoughts to be of any help to me. Bookman must have sensed Lavi's distraction, for he marched over and slapped Lavi, hard.

"Bookman!" I protested, shocked by his actions. It was only the second time I had ever seen Bookman beating up on Lavi, but it appeared that it was a common occurrence. Lavi held his head, muttering curses under his breath as he glared up at the old man. Bookman grabbed Lavi by the ear and pulled him to his feet, dragging him over to the doorway before pausing and looking back.

"I expect to see you in the throne room in an hour, with all your things, prepared to leave." With that he disappeared out into the hallway, dragging Lavi along behind him. Climbing unsteadily to my feet I looked over at Sebastian, sending him a confused look which he ignored.

"Do you know what the Ark is Sebastian?" He glanced at me over his shoulder as he started gathering my clothes which had become scattered around the room.

"I have no idea, although it would seem that it provides some type of transport considering we are using it instead of the jet plane." I rolled my eyes; I had figured that much out for myself, so I hadn't needed him to tell me what I already knew.

I watched as he packed my things away before picking up Athena and strapping it back to my waist again. Sebastian picked up my bag and watched as I opened the door and headed out towards the throne room. Sure I was going to be there early, but I would rather wait in the throne room than in my bedroom.

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><p><strong>AN: Yes, this chapter has a lot of flash-backs, but that is how I felt it was best to go about the explanations instead of just having them talk about it. 3 uploads in one day! New record :) Reviews are welcome, obviously, there shall be some more characters introduced in the next few chapters I think, there's one in particular from KSJ anyway, can you guess who?**


	22. The Ark

**Chapter 22: The Ark**

Sitting on the edge of the dais I surveyed the throne room, bored, resting my chin on my hand. The place was in ruins from the battle against the Akuma, a battle that I still couldn't really believe had actually happened. The likelihood of there being an attack had been something along the lines of 0.01%, but it had still happened. Which just goes to show that you can never rule out a possibility, no matter how small it is.

Frowning I stared at the broken tables, at the rubbish, debris and food scattered across the floor. The room was an absolute mess, and it seemed to be a bad place to bring this mysterious Ark to. Letting out a depressed sigh I lay back on the cool tiled floor, shivering as the cold seeped through my jacket. There was still at least half an hour before Lavi and Bookman would arrive, so for now I was just going to rest.

Light footsteps sounded, echoing on the tiles as they grew closer to me. Brushing the noise off as being Sebastian doing some more of his irritating pacing I closed my eyes, stretching my arms above my head.

"Hey Sebastian, is it just me or does this seem like a really bad meeting place?" I called out to him impatiently, wanting the hour to hurry up and pass so that I could get out of here. Greece no longer held any attraction to me, not since the attack and my own grandmother calling me a demon. I wanted to get back to the Black Order, find an abandoned room and question Lavi about these Noah.

The footsteps stopped and when I got no response I scowled, cracking open one eye to see what was going on with my less than human butler. My mind was latched onto memorising the sight of that Noah Tyki Mikk, so it took me a while to realise that the person standing over me wasn't who I thought it was.

"Who is Sebastian?" He asked curiously, causing me to sit straight up, flattening my hair self-consciously with my right hand as I spun around to properly face him. He stared down at me, apparently not sure whether it was okay for him to sit down. I didn't want to talk to him, so I wasn't about to offer him a seat.

"That is none of your business Greg." I replied coldly, causing him to blink in confusion before sitting down nest to me on the ground. I glared at him from under my fringe, violet eyes angry and impatient.

"I don't understand you. You are so informal with everyone, like you are better than us, when we are royalty." He sounded bitter, and I couldn't tell if it was because of me or because he didn't like being royalty. "My grandmother was so open and worried about you when…" He trailed off.

"If you came to whine then go away. If you came to inquire on my health then I am fine, and go away." I was being unnecessarily rude, but I was in no mood to be talking to anyone who couldn't give me the information that I wanted. Some stupid Prince from Greece? He definitely wouldn't be able to help me.

"What is wrong with you?" He demanded angrily, glaring back at me with angry blue eyes. "I'm trying to be nice, and you are purposely being a bitch." I was actually kind of shocked to hear that 'bitch' was one of those English words taught in schools these days.

"I'm allowed to be a bitch; I nearly died at your stupid party. You should tell grandmother that it isn't nice to withhold information from the security she hires, since it could be the difference between life and death. If we hadn't gone down to the town we wouldn't have been prepared at all for the attack, since there were no reports of danger!" I was on my feet by then, yelling down at him with my hands on my hips. Sebastian smirked from across the hall at my rage.

"What do you mean 'tell grandmother'? She isn't your grandmother!" He climbed to his feet and glared at me. We were the same height, but I was younger. I smirked, eyes cold and hating as I waited for a proper reaction from him.

"I don't have time for this." I muttered irritably. "Sebastian! Get rid of him." Greg's eyes widened in shock at my words as Sebastian stepped forward.

"As you wish mistress." Unfortunately good old Bakkhos chose that moment to come for a leisurely stroll in the throne room.

"I was walking past the door when I thought I heard arguing, so I decided to investigate and look what I found." He said in a patronising way that made me want to strangle him.

"Oh fuck this." I muttered, storming off to go and stand with Sebastian away from the two men.

"Well would you look at that." He started again, eyes glinting in amusement. "My lovely little niece doesn't want to be in the same room as me." He put on a fake hurt look, which earned him a furious glare from me. Greg looked between me and his father before throwing his hands up in the air out of frustration.

"You people are crazy!" He screamed before marching out of the room. My Uncle gave me the evil eye before following after his son. Sighing in irritation I sank to the ground where I had been standing, crossing my legs and leaning against one of the pillars. Checking my watch I saw that there was only 10 more minutes until Lavi and Bookman were going to arrive, so I closed my eyes once more and settled in to wait it out.

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><p><strong>-10 minutes later-<strong>

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><p>Lavi sent me a worried look when he stepped into the room after Bookman, which made me bite my lip in worry. I climbed to my feet, wiping imaginary dust of off my pants to hide my nerves. The meeting time had just ticked over, and we all stared into space in the centre of the room as we waited for the Ark. It would have been easier if I had known what it was I was supposed to be looking out for.<p>

"Lavi…" I began, walking to stand beside the older boy. "… what exactly does the Ark look like?" He glanced down at me, reiterating the fact that he was taller than me, which made me frown.

"You'll know it when you see it." He assured me, ruffling my hair in a way which made me want to hit him. I was very sensitive about my hair, and I never said that he could touch it. I was about to yell at him when there was a flash of light, which quickly dimmed down to show a sort of door, hanging in the air.

"What the… THAT is the Ark?" I asked, bewildered, as I clung to Lavi's sleeve, not sure if I liked the new development. The door began to swing open, and I clung to his arm, brain not processing what it was that I was doing since I was too busy freaking out about the door floating in the middle of the room. A figure appeared in the doorway momentarily before jumping out, landing on the tiled floor.

"Hey beansprout! Long-time no see!" Lavi called cheerfully, earning himself a heartfelt glare from both me and Allen. The white haired exorcist gave me a confused look, and I looked down, seeing my arms wrapped around Lavi's arm. I cried out in shock, pushing him away and blushing angrily. Allen smiled and Lavi pouted as I smoothed my hair down nervously.

"It's only been two weeks." Allen pointed out, sharing a silent conversation with Bookman which made me suspicious. I didn't trust Bookman, I had a good feeling that he was hiding a lot of things from me, and yet he expected me to spill my guts to him about my innocence. It wasn't exactly the best method of gaining another person's trust.

"So… I… uh… I guess we should get going now." I managed to choke out into the awkward silence which followed, glancing at Sebastian as I edged away from Lavi. That hadn't been one of my best moments, spacing out like that. Allen nodded in agreement and turned to head back into the mysterious Ark. Sebastian narrowed his eyes as he examined it, not happy with the unnatural phenomena in front of him. Although he didn't really have any right to be judgemental about it, all things considered.

Giving him a hard jab in the ribs I stepped forward, following Allen and Lavi into the Ark. I grabbed the back of Lavi's jacket at the last moment, closing my eyes and letting him guide me. I wouldn't admit it out loud, but I was pretty nervous about going inside. There was a sound like a door closing and I opened my eyes again.

"What is this place?" As far as I could tell we had stepped out of the throne room and stepped into a seemingly never-ending white town. Lavi glanced over his shoulder at me and smirked.

"You're inside the Ark now." My eyes widened in surprise as I smacked him in the back of the head for making fun of me.

"Well yeah, but what is this? Some sort of inter-dimensional travel?" He laughed as we started walking again, following Allen who somehow seemed to know where we were going.

"I think you've been reading too many sci-fi books Jas." I glared at him before running up to walk with the white haired exorcist instead. Allen had been kind of quiet, and I wondered what it was that was eating away at him.

"Hey Allen, where do all these doors lead to?" I asked curiously, having noticed the multitudes of doors that we were walking past. Occasionally we would pass one that had a sign on it, but I didn't make much of an effort trying to read any of them. He glanced up at me, eyes guarded.

"They could go anywhere. We haven't had the time to check all of them yet." He explained cheerfully, taking a sudden right turn that caught me off guard. I really had no idea where we were going. I hugged my stomach as we walked, unsure of how I felt about the Ark. Sure it seemed like a much more efficient method of travel than taking the plane, but it also felt dangerous. If so much had yet to be explored then the doors really could lead to anywhere. Lavi thought I was confusing this with some science fiction drama, but to be honest the whole situation was pretty sci-fi already, it didn't need my help.

"How much longer are we going to be in here for?" I asked suddenly, starting to inwardly freak out as I began to feel trapped. I was completely lost and helpless, and I was putting my trust in a guy that I had known for two weeks, who I had barely spoken with in that time. So yeah, shoot me, I have trust issues, but that's not really such a hard thing to believe. I'd had a less than conventional life over the past 3 years, although the exorcists probably weren't really any different.

"Not much longer." Allen promised, hesitating at a turn before heading left. Irritated I started plaiting some of my hair that had fallen in front of my face as we walked. More of the doors were labelled down this street, or whatever it is that I should call it, but as I took the time to look at them they were actually just numbers, which meant someone must be logging them as opposed to openly signposting their destinations.

"How do you even know where you are going?" I mumbled more to myself than to anyone in particular. Allen stopped in front of a numbered door and the rest of us stopped behind him. Lavi had a blank look on his face as Allen opened the door. I stepped out after him, blinking my eyes at the sudden change in lighting as all the white disappeared.

Looking around there was something that I quickly noticed about the place where we had arrived.

"This isn't headquarters is it?" I stated bluntly, crossing my arms across my chest aggressively as I surveyed the people gathered around the entrance.

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><p><strong>AN: So I've finally figured out how I'm going to end this story, although that won't be for quite a few chapters still. I really had no idea how many chapters I would end up writing when I started this, and now I've got 22 :) **

**For any of you who read my other story Daughter of the Sound I've put some thought into it and come up with a sort of basic outline for the rest of the plot, so hopefully I should be able to update it soon. It's going to spin into an un-canon plotline, because I haven't really seen much of Shippuden or actually read much of the manga, so just bare with me.**


	23. The Asia Branch

**Chapter 23: The Asia Branch**

"Where are we?" I asked bitterly, uncomfortable with all the people who had gathered around upon the appearance of the Ark. It was more than a little bit unnerving, considering I didn't know any of them; I didn't even recognise any of them. There was a girl with glasses who was full out staring at Allen, who seemed oblivious to the attention that he was getting.

Allen laughed nervously and took a step away from me as Sebastian came up behind me, glaring at everyone from over my head. I brushed my hand through my fringe, moving it out of my eyes as I waited for someone to take responsibility and tell me where we had ended up, since it was obviously intentional and not a mistake on Allen's part.

A person pushed their way through the crowd to stand in front of us. The clothes he was wearing sort of resembled Komui's uniform, and it was then that I noticed that everyone else crowding around appeared to be wearing the same uniform as the guys from the Science Division back at headquarters. Sighing irritably I locked my fierce purple gaze on the new guy.

"This is the Asia Branch of the Black Order." He started, making me frown in confusion. I could think of no good reason for us to go to Asia instead of back to headquarters so that I could go home. "My name is Bak Chan and I'm the leader of this branch." He held his hand out to me to shake, which I ignored in favour of glaring at Allen.

"Allen why are we in Asia? If you didn't want to go to headquarters you could of at least sent me back to the Oceanic Branch so that I could go home." Bak seemed disappointed that I was ignoring him, but I didn't have time to worry about being rude to people I didn't know.

"It was my idea Jasmine." I jumped, startled as Bookman spoke up at last. Bak also seemed to be a little surprised with Bookman, although whether it was because of what he had said or because Bak just didn't like Bookman wasn't for me to know. Turning around I glared down at the old man, wondering whether he actually wanted me to beat him up or he was just being a pain because he thought that I wouldn't dare to hit an old man.

"Bak, I want you to accompany me and my idiot apprentice when we have a little chat with Jasmine."

"Hey that's not okay Bookman! You can't just decide that sort of thing without asking anyone!" I protested, annoyed. I didn't want Bak to sit in on the two sided interrogation. I knew that Bookman wanted to talk about my innocence, and I wanted to get information about the Noah. Lavi rested a hand on my shoulder and shook his head, clearly stating that nothing I said would change Bookman's mind.

"Are you going to be okay with this?" Sebastian asked, leaning in close on my other side, making Lavi drop his serious face and look outraged instead. I really wondered what went on in that boy's head sometimes. The fact that Bookman had called him his apprentice explained why they always seemed to go on missions together, but what was he apprenticing for?

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I assured my ever wary butler and protector, gaze shifting between the three older men in question. I didn't really feel like it was a good idea to harass anyone about the Noah while Bak was around, so I would have to talk to Lavi about it later.

The Science Division people seemed to have realised that there wasn't going to be any big introduction or anything, so they slowly drifted back to their respective stations and got back to work. Looking over at Allen I wondered what he was going to do while we talked, but then I remembered his appetite and decided that he would probably go and eat a heap of food.

"Sebastian Bookman won't let you come with us, I can almost guarantee it, so I think you should stick with Allen for the time being." The demon didn't look happy with my decision, but I wasn't in the mood to take any crap from him, so I just sent him a serious glare before submitting myself to my questioners.

I followed Bak, Lavi and Bookman through the corridors of the Asia branch, not having a clue where we were going and deciding that it was going to be impossible for me to find my way back to the Ark on my own. I was horrible with directions on a whole. At home I was fine, since I'd lived there for a long time I could find things fine, but all these new places were all blurring into one thing in my mind and I would forever be looking for hallways that didn't exist. Eventually we stopped outside a door, which Bak opened and ushered us all into. It was a rather plain room, with a table and some chairs. And no, they weren't armchairs or La-Z-Boy's, they were hard plastic chairs, like an interrogation room in a police station, not that I knew what they actually looked like, I had only ever seen them on crime shows.

"You can take a seat Jasmine." Bak told me, trying to be nice. I flashed him a thankful smile and sat down in one of those hard plastic chairs. Lavi took the one next to me and I thought I saw annoyance in Bak's expression before he decided to lean against the wall instead of taking a seat. Ignoring his possibly very normal behaviour I turned to face Bookman, dreading what was to come.

"Well first things first. Jasmine, how long have you had that innocence fragment for?" I unconsciously covered the back of my neck with my left hand as I stared at Bookman.

"It's been there for my entire life. I suppose I was born with it. If I wasn't born with it then I sure as heck don't remember when it got there." The old man frowned but nodded, apparently finding my answer to be acceptable.

"Uh Bookman? I hate to interrupt, but why am I here?" Bak asked nervously, earning himself a cold glare from the panda.

"Next, had you ever used your innocence before today?" It seemed that he was purposely ignoring Bak until he was required, so I figured it was best to just answer his questions.

"No, never. Hevlaska said something about it being sealed? I don't really know, but I'd never tried to use it before then." Honestly I never had. It had never crossed my mind to actually try and do anything. Although that may have been because I wanted it to be a joke. I hadn't really wanted anything else out of the ordinary infecting my life, it was messed up enough as it was.

"Bak, when she used her innocence she breathed fire. What do you make of that?" Bak was caught completely off guard by Bookman's question.

"What? You mean like a dragon?" Bookman narrowed his eyes, not in the least bit amused.

"Try and act your age Bak." The division chief shuddered suddenly, standing up straighter as he leant against the wall.

"Well have you figured out what sort of innocence it is?"

"All I've confirmed is that there is no way that it can be parasitic type innocence, because she copes fine while eating minimal amounts in stark comparison to Allen."

"Uh… right, okay. Not parasitic. Maybe seeing the innocence fragment might help?" I sent him a curious look, not really understanding how that would help at all, but I had a feeling that being around Bookman was messing with his logic, hence the dragon comment.

"Jasmine, is that acceptable to you?"

"Sure, why not. Go ahead." Bak walked over to me and waited, not knowing where to look. Gathering my hair in one hand I twisted it up on top of my head, allowing him to see the back of my neck.

"That's odd…" He muttered to himself. "I've never seen purple innocence before…" I dropped my hair, throwing Lavi a frightened look. His eyes had widened slightly at the mention but he quickly regained his composure and motioned for me to do the same. There was no reason to let Bookman get suspicious about anything.

"Okay then…" I started before being interrupted by someone opening the door.

"Bak there's something on the news you might want to see." Bak glanced over at them before telling us all to follow him. It sort of surprised me when he took command, since he had let Bookman tell him what to do until now. Nevertheless I jumped out of my seat, eager to see what was so damn interesting on the news today. We hurried down the corridors which honestly all looked exactly the same to me before coming out in a room that had a bank of computer consoles on one wall. Another thing I never would have expected to see.

"What is it?" At Bak's question someone pulled up some footage on the main screen. It was quite obviously a news station, although not an English one. I was about to leave, not really interested in foreign news, when Sebastian stopped me and turned me around.

"What are you…?" When I looked back at the screen I saw myself being approached by two men, Richard and Tyki. It then skipped forward to when the Akuma had arrived, and while the footage briefly showed Lavi and Bookman fighting the cameraman seemed more interested in trying to hear the conversation between the three of us. Of course the footage was enough to confirm the whole fire-breathing thing to Bak, while at the same time leaving the rest of the room speechless. When the Akuma were more or less gone the camera zoomed in on my little group, as if anticipating that something was going to happen. That was when Tyki decided to put his hand through my neck. After that the footage ended and the news announcer came back on the screen.

"Oh hell no…" All eyes in the room locked onto me and I had to resist the urge to touch my neck, telling myself that if the innocence had been there a minute ago then it was still there now.

"Where did they get that footage from?" Bak demanded, sending the crowd back to work.

"Hey Bak, what time is it in New Zealand right now?" I asked quietly, fearing the worst. He did a quick calculation in his head before replying.

"It should be about 6pm, why?" I tensed, shoving someone out of the way and taking over their computer, messing around with the satellite signals until I found the TV 3 news.

"A short while ago we were sent a strange video. We have yet to confirm its validity or what the purpose of it is, but we have decided to show it tonight regardless of the circumstances surrounding it." The announcer informed before the same video began playing. Her voice came in over the video. "We have reason to believe that the girl featured in the video may well be the same girl that was recently held hostage by Greek rebels. The rumoured Greek Princess Jasmine Dionysus has apparently been caught up in a wave of unpleasant events in her homeland, as the anonymous supplier of this footage claims that it is from the royal palace. As to whether or not that is true we have yet to confirm, but it would seem as though terrorism in Greece is getting more extreme."

"I thought as much." I muttered to myself, clenching my fist so tightly that my nails may very well have pierced my skin. No-one except Lavi knew that Dionysus was my last name, but the video was pretty self-explanatory. A hand rested tentatively on my shoulder.

"Jas?" Turning around I plastered a fake cheerful smile on my face, relaxing my hand and letting it fall to my side.

"I guess this is the perfect excuse not to go back to school."

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><p><strong>AN: Shittiest. Chapter. Ever. Well, except for chapter 2, which I was considering rewriting because I decided I didn't really like the whole being kidnapped twice thing, but I can't be bothered going through all the other chapters and removing references to it.**

**Umm sorry that it took a while to upload, but I had some writers block, plus my mind was stuck in Naruto mode, even after I 'finished' Daughter of the Sound.**

**It's a little early, but Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and uh.. what else is near now? Hanukkah? (if I spelt that wrong don't kill me) So uh Happy Hanukkah too? Idk...**

**Oh, and to Yorukifon, I love you, you're officially the first person to fav this story or anything at all! Thanks :) It made me smile**


	24. Undertaker

**A/N: Hey, I know it's been forever since I last updated. This story has sort of lost its appeal to me, but I promised myself I would finish it no matter what, so if the chapters seem a little rushed or whatever from here on out that's why.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 24: Undertaker<strong>

"Are you really a princess?"

"No."

"Is that you in the video that was on the news?"

"No."

"Jas are you even listening to me?"

"No."

So I should probably explain how Emma ended up in my room endlessly questioning me about the things I didn't want to talk about.

After the embarrassing incident with the news I was tempted to ring the complaints department again, but instead I dragged Allen away and basically threatened him until he agreed to bring me home through the Ark. That way I could slip back home under the radar and not cause an even bigger stir than what was already turning out to be. Once that was dealt with I managed to get Lavi's email address, although that wasn't really that difficult since he's such a flirt. It was slightly more eventful than that though.

After I talked with Allen he disappeared, but I got lost trying to find my way back to the room with all the computers. Lavi found me wandering the corridors and started questioning me. He actually sounded genuinely worried about me, but I don't see why he bothered since I had already told him that I didn't like school. It didn't bug me that it gave me an excuse to quit. Since I was determined to go straight home it occurred to me that I wouldn't have a chance to question him about the Noah, which is where the email address issue came up. He happily gave it to me, and he already knew mine since he hacked it not all that long ago.

When all was said and done I forced Allen to open the Ark, even though he didn't have authorisation to bring me home. I reassured him that I would take full blame and responsibility for anything the higher ups had to say about it. He still didn't look too happy about it, but I guess he felt bad for me since I'd had my face flashed around on the news.

Slipping into town under the radar was surprisingly easy since I hadn't come in on a plane. Apparently the Ark was good for more than just efficient travel, if it opened up in the right place. Once Sebastian and I had made it back home I had Erika ring the school and tell them that I was quitting. The principal didn't even try and stop me, she just accepted it and moved on, which had to have been the most understanding she had ever been about someone trying to leave her school.

And now we are back to the present, a week after my return to the city.

Emma was lying on my bed mucking around on my laptop while I sat on the couch flipping through some files Sebastian had managed to obtain. On the couch beside me was a manila folder with information concerning the shinigami that he had put together for me from his own memory, while the one I was currently reading was about the Black Order. It was honestly shocking how much he had managed to gather considering no-one had ever heard of them before.

"What is so damn interesting over there that you won't pay attention when I'm talking to you?" She demanded, sitting up.

"It's nothing Emma, and I am listening, I just don't care." Frowning she lay back down and started going through the files on my laptop again. All the classified stuff I had on there was password protected, so I didn't care what she did.

"Hey Jas, isn't that Lavi?" I looked up from the paper in my hands and looked around the room.

"Isn't what Lavi?"

"This." She said again, jabbing her finger at the computer screen. Sighing I climbed to my feet and walked over, sitting next to her on the bed to see what she was on about. Apparently I hadn't put a password on EVERYTHING I didn't want others to see.

"Um, maybe."

"When were these taken? And why do you have a sword?"

"Uhh…" Luckily my computer chose that moment to inform me that I had a new email. "Sorry, I have to check this." Snatching the laptop away from her I opened my email and looked at it. I had almost expected it to be from Lavi, but it was from Allen instead.

'_Hey Jasmine,_

_I hope you're doing alright. I know I've already apologised before but I'm really sorry about what happened over at the Asia Branch. It was awful that the reporters would eagerly jump to conclusions and say things that could have adverse effects on people's lives like that. They really ought to do something about privacy laws or something.  
>Lavi's been acting really strangely since we got back to HQ. So far he has refused to say a single word in regards to the mission. Luckily Bookman filled Komui in on the necessary details, but it would appear that Lavi knows a lot more about what happened than Bookman does. According to Bookman anyway, Lavi was with you quite a lot during the mission. Did something happen between you two to make him so quiet? I know I said he only refuses to speak about the mission but he doesn't really speak much at all now.<br>I'm sorry to be burdening you with all this, but if you think you can help him then it would be appreciated. It's very disconcerting to see him like this and it worries me. So you think you can talk to him?_

_Allen._

_P.S. I don't know if you realised but there was a golem in your bag, so it's probably somewhere in your house now. It's your own golem, we just hadn't had a chance to give it to you and then it slipped into your stuff and…'_

I let out a long, low sigh and moved the message to the work folder, away from prying eyes. Closing my email I handed the computer back to Emma and fell backwards onto the bed. If Lavi was acting strangely it was definitely my fault. Or, more specifically, Grell's fault, but I couldn't be bothered trying to find him and beat him up over it. Plus he would just whine and in the end we wouldn't get anywhere with the whole deal.

"Jeez what is wrong with you? You're all over the place today, it's no fun. You've been off school for a while and somewhere along the line you got to spend time with Lavi. That's cheating! You're not the only one who thinks he's cute." I blinked, turning my head to look up at Emma.

"Cute?" Well sure, he was pretty good looking, but I had no reason to care for that. I'd just escaped death once and my final rest would be coming sooner rather than later.

"If you plan in chasing after him then this is war." She warned me, her expression dead serious. I couldn't help myself; I starting laughing. Emma gave me a strange look as I laughed, but it only got odder once I suddenly stopped.

"I guess Allen wasn't lying about the golem." I muttered, staring at the ceiling where I had just seen a flash of black metal.

"Aren't golems some mythological thing made of earth or something?" She queried, trying to figure out what was going through my mind. "And wait, who's Allen? Is he your boyfriend? You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend!" Groaning in irritation I pushed myself up off the bed and grabbed my phone from the bedside table, flipping it open. The date in the corner of the screen caught my attention and my eyes widened in shock.

"Emma I just remembered I have to go somewhere, so you sort of have to leave." The older girl frowned, eyeing me with a fierce look as she tried to determine whether I was being serious or I just wanted her to go away. The almost pained look in my eyes apparently convinced her and she reluctantly shut down my laptop and climbed to her feet, grabbing her shoes. I shoved my phone in the pocket of my black jeans, grabbed the hoodie I had abandoned on the couch, put it on over my red and blue shirt, and followed Emma out of my room and down the stairs. We were both silent the whole way and Erika was surprised to see us when we passed the living room.

I walked her to the door and held it open for her as she said her farewells and wandered off down the street. It was probably a tad harsh of me to just kick her out like that, since she lived a fair distance away and hadn't had a chance to call for a ride, but it was necessary. I had only just remembered what day it was. Sitting on the floor in the doorway I shoved my feet into a pair of ballet flats.

"Sebastian." I called softly as I got back to my feet. The demon was at my side in a matter of seconds.

"You sent her home already?" He asked curiously, watching as I tried to piece together my mask once more.

"We're going to the cemetery." I informed him, ignoring his question as I walked out of the house and over to the car. Sebastian smirked, following my order silently. He was in the driver's seat with the engine on by the time I threw myself into the backseat. Sebastian knew why I wanted to go there, but the look on his face made me feel like he had some sort of ulterior motive. That fact alone was enough to intimidate me. Demons under a contract shouldn't have any ulterior motives that don't include the devouring of said person's soul. It just isn't right.

"If you don't mind my asking, what is that thing in the backseat?" Sebastian questioned, his red eyes looking at me in the rear view mirror. I stared back at him in confusion until I felt a slight weight on me head. Digging my phone out of my pocket I took a picture so I could figure out what it was.

"Oh…" I mumbled when I looked at the picture. "That's my golem. I guess it's programmed to follow me around or something."

"So the Order can spy on you?" My mood darkened further and I frowned at him.

"I highly doubt it, but even if they did use it for spying I wouldn't care. They can't do anything to interfere with how I live my life; they can't even make me go back to school." With that I closed communications and turned to stare out the window, ignoring the little black bat like golem flying around my head.

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><p>"We could have stopped and bought flowers you know mistress." My hands curled into fists at my sides at his annoying words as I stared down at the plain grey headstones.<p>

"What's the point? It's not like they're actually there." I muttered darkly, waving a hand at the graves. It was the anniversary of their death. I'm not entirely sure who put the headstones up, because I didn't arrange it, but someone did and that's why I had kicked Emma out and dragged myself to the cemetery. There were many less depressing places that I could have gone to. Their bodies had disappeared without a trace, so I could go almost anywhere and just pretend that I was paying my respects. I guess it was just something that should be approached properly and not half-heartedly, even if that's pretty much how I felt about being there. It was half-hearted. I didn't even really want to be at the cemetery, in all honesty I just as easily could have stayed with Emma and let her drone on about Lavi and harass me about Allen.

"Are you done here?" The deep voice interrupted my wandering thoughts and I glared up at him, only partially angry about his intrusion.

"Yeah." I expected him to head back to the car, but instead he just stood there.

"How would you feel about taking a small detour before returning to the house?" Turning I watched him, trying in vain to get some sort of information from his expression. It failed, as per usual.

"I guess it depends on the sort of detour."

"I believe you may like this particular detour." Shrugging I turned around and followed Sebastian through the cemetery grounds, not really caring where he was taking me.

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><p>"So… I'm not really sure what's so interesting about this place." Staring up at the building in front of me I tried to figure out what Sebastian found so interesting about an undertaker building in a cemetery.<p>

"Do you not understand where this is?" Glancing sideways I raised an eyebrow, a disbelieving look clear on my face.

"It's an undertaker's. There are places like this all over the place; it's hardly something to be excited about." The smirk on his face was unnerving and I was starting to believe that I had overlooked something. Confused I looked around again, trying to find anything that I hadn't noticed the first time.

"I give up." Brushing off my failure I pushed open the door and stepped inside, only to be greeted with crazy, maniacal laughter.

"Ihihihi, what do we have here? The Phantomhive's demon and… who are you?" A man with long silver hair cackled as he messed with an anatomy doll, looking over at the doorway from behind his hair. I paled when I saw the doll; there was an extremely good reason as to why I wasn't doing biology at school.

"Undertaker, it has been a long time since I have… required your services." There was an almost bitter undertone to Sebastian's statement and I ripped my eyes away from the horrific doll for long enough to gape at him.

"You're the Undertaker?" I asked curiously, turning my attention back to the eccentric man. "Wow! This has got to be the coolest thing to happen to me since that sparring match with Lavi!" I babbled excitedly, causing the shinigami to erupt into a fit of laughter.

"You're a strange child. You know what? I'll tell you anything you want to know." Sebastian almost looked relieved, but if it had even really been there at all he quickly hid it.

"Umm…" For the life of me I couldn't remember what the big deal was. I couldn't remember why we had to go and see him in the first place. All that was running through my mind was that I had gotten to meet another person from the stories I forced Sebastian to tell me.

"Undertaker, can you locate her soul?" The silver haired man paused, a thoughtful yet creepy look on his pale face. Putting the doll to one side he climbed to his feet and wandered over to me.

"What an odd question. It never left." I shuddered slightly as he ran a finger down the back of my neck, tensing as Sebastian's eyes flashed a menacing, possessive red.

"Grell told us otherwise." Sebastian growled.

"Well, it's not all here…" I flinched away as he waved his hand across my torso. "Some of it is here." He dragged a finger gently in a circle around the innocence fragment in the back of my neck.

"M-m-mr Undertaker… How is that even possible?" The weight shifted from my shoulders and I straightened up, stepping over closer to Sebastian.

"More importantly, how do we fix it?"

"Ah, well, it would seem as though it has been trapped inside that mysterious fragment. I'd have to say that you're only chance would be to destroy the fragment and hope for the best." I stared at him wide-eyed in confusion. Sensing a lull in the conversation Undertaker pulled a miniature cauldron from somewhere and started eating oddly shaped biscuits.

"Destroy… my innocence?" He looked over at me, biscuit hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, is that what it is?" Narrowing my eyes I glared at him, putting my hands on my hips out of annoyance. As I was trying to work my mind around his cryptic attitude I heard an odd beeping noise.

"Ah, mistress, it would appear your golem followed us." Looking around the dimly lit room I finally located the black golem and coaxed it over.

"What's going on?" I wondered out loud as I reached out and touched it. The golem shuddered before opening up to reveal a screen like Lavi's did at school.

"Jasmine is that you?" The man in white on the screen asked, looking as though he were having trouble seeing me.

"Chief Komui?" Purple irises showed my shock at his sudden call. Taking a breath to compose myself I tried to put on a more serious expression for the older man. "Is there something you need?"

"Ahahaha… Not really. Reever was getting mad at me and when Allen said that you hadn't sent him a reply I thought it would be the perfect time to see if your golem was functioning properly!" I rolled my eyes, using one hand to push away the offered cauldron of biscuits.

'_The email…'_

"Hey Komui, how's Lavi? Allen said he was acting odd…" The science chief shrugged before turning and shouting at someone off-screen.

"I'm not sure, but whatever's wrong has been upsetting my dearest Lenalee."

"Look, if you're going to go on a rant about Lenalee then I'm disconnecting, alright?"

"… Fine." I tilted my head forward slightly so that my hair covered my eyes.

"Do you think… that you could tell Lavi that I'm sorry and I'm worried about him?" I asked nervously, refusing to look at the screen. There was a short pause in which I could hear other people in the background.

"Sure, hopefully it might lift his spirits a bit." Nodding I thanked him, said goodbye and ended the call, not even batting an eyelash when the golem settled on my shoulder.

"Undertaker, thanks for answering our questions. Sebastian, we're leaving now." Silence enveloped us as we left the building, and it followed us all the way back home.

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><p><strong>AN: So yeah, other than what I said at the top all I can really say is that I'm back at school which means that I literally have next to no time for writing.**


	25. Revenge and Goodbyes

**Chapter 25: Revenge and Goodbyes**

A month had passed since the intriguing yet infuriating visit with the eccentric silver haired shinigami Undertaker. Sebastian had forcefully taken over my schooling, insisting that regardless of the situation it was important for me to get a proper education. It honestly made me want to slap that all-knowing smirk off his stupid pale face. As for my own self-enforced regimes I was bringing my katana outside at least five times a week to train, whether it be trying to build up my arm muscles, figure out how to properly swing a sword, or trying to activate the damned innocence in the stupid thing.

If you couldn't tell from my frustration that didn't go down so well. The stupid weapon innocence wouldn't respond to me at all, no matter how much I tried to focus on it.

A week ago on my sixteenth birthday my stupid old neighbour even had the nerve to scream at me from over the fence when I was leaning over the balcony outside my bedroom drinking a cup of hot chocolate. The nerve of him! I wasn't even doing anything wrong! I'll be more than glad to be rid of him when I die.

Now I was standing in the backyard once more, panting heavily with several strands of hair plastered across my face as I stared angrily at the shiny metal blade thrust into the grass. Good old Athena had been getting on my nerves and it was times like then that I was glad the fences surrounding the property were so damn high. It meant that no-one could see me throwing curses and heated glares at the sword that was very probably illegal.

"What's so fucking great about this shitty innocence anyway?" I whined, purple eyes sending out a furious look that could almost rival Sebastian's when he was angry, something I was pretty sure I had only witnessed once in my life. Straightening up I brushed my hair out of my face, tying it up in a ponytail that sat high on the back of my head as I walked over to the katana, holding the sheath in one hand.

"You have been giving me hell lately." I informed the oh-so-special hunk of metal. "You WILL obey me, or I shall have to go on some sort of killing spree, and I'm sure no-one would appreciate that." It felt like someone was watching me, and before I had a chance to turn and check it out I swore I heard some snicker harshly. Spinning on my heel I caught sight of Sebastian in the shadow by the backdoor, a barely there smirk on his lips as he watched over me and my conversations with inanimate objects. He remained quiet even as he watched me glare at him.

"What?" I demanded irritably, walking away from the blade still embedded in the ground to close the distance between us until I was halfway between weapon and demon.

"I merely happen to find it amusing that you are not only having an argument with your weapon, but you are allowing your golem to record it." He replied lightly, tone showing that he truly thought I was being an idiot. A pale blush crept across my face as embarrassment hit home. In truth I had gotten so used to the presence of the golem over the past month that I hadn't even noticed it was out in the garden with me. Not that it should have been much of a surprise seeing as it followed me almost everywhere I went.

"Whatever." I grumbled quietly, averting my eyes from his piercing red gaze.

Turning away I was going to head back to my fruitless attempt at controlling my uncooperative innocence when a massive explosion rang through the air. Confused I shot a questioning look at Sebastian. Explosions didn't just happen, especially not around here where there wasn't even a real army base.

"It was fairly close. I'd say… end of the street." My eyes widened and I just stared at him, dumbfounded by the exclamation. My street was fairly long, and the house was only around halfway up it, but even so, that meant it was in the residential area somewhere.

"Seriously? Shit…"

"Would you like me to go and investigate?" He asked monotonously, watching my mini freak-out. It was pretty obvious that he was only offering to see if the commotion was going to put my life at risk.

"I'll go." Straightening my shirt I hastily retrieved the infuriating katana and sheathed it, holding it firmly in my right hand and beckoning the golem with my left. With more purpose and determination that I'd had in a while I marched through the house and out into the street once more, barely registering the two people climbing the hill and ignoring the weird looks I received from the couple that lived across the road. They should have known by now not to expect anything normal to come out of my house. Concern and curiosity kept me interested and I hurried up the hill towards where Sebastian speculated the source was.

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><p>Emma and Mary had decided that something was up with their friend. They had only just found out after weeks of constant harassing of teaching staff that Jasmine had officially left school. It had shocked both of them, not just that she had quit but that she hadn't told either of them. They were heading out to confront the suddenly reclusive orphan, for it had only taken a small amount of digging to find out that that was what she was. An orphan. Sebastian was no uncle of hers, not to mention they looked nothing alike at all, what with his menacing red eyes and black hair.<p>

"Sword…?" Emma glanced over at her friend curiously, trying to figure out what had caused her sudden outburst. Mary normally wasn't the sort to spout nonsense and they were just below Jasmine's massive house.

"There, a sword." Mary pointed in front of them and Emma followed her gaze, letting out a short gasp at what she saw.

"I've seen that sword somewhere before." She muttered, coming to a stop and watching the one they had come to visit and her so-called 'uncle' marching up the street in the direction of the explosion they had heard on their way up.

"I'm not even going to ask this time." Mary stated drily. "If we want to talk our time is now, so we have to at least follow her and find out where she's going. Surely that's our duty as concerned friends?" Emma grinned broadly, white teeth glinting in the afternoon sun in a devilishly menacing way.

"Good plan my dear Watson." She teased before heading off again, adopting a rather practised stalker persona as she went to avoid detection. Mary rolled her eyes and followed her crazy friend in a more normal fashion, strolling up the street and acting as though she hadn't a care in the world, all the while watching Emma dash from telephone pole to telephone pole.

* * *

><p>I knew something was up. It wasn't hard to tell, if you forget about all the attention we were getting anyway from the medieval weapon in my hand. Someone was following us, and if I knew it meant that Sebastian had predicted it since before we left the house, being the sneaky demon that he is.<p>

"There isn't anything bomb worthy up here." I commented, throwing a quick side glance at the black clad demon as I hurried up the hill.

"It wasn't a bomb." He confirmed, answering my unspoken question in a completely serious tone. "It would also be quicker if I ran." Scowling I smacked him lightly with the katana, irritated by his suggestion. I was about to throw out some more questions when the innocence on the back of my neck began tingling.

"I guess it's Akuma then." Curiosity dwindling I continued on, it was in my job description after all. I have to kill those god-awful Akuma before they kill any people.

It didn't take long to get to the top of the hill, and once we were there it was frighteningly obvious what the situation was. Explosions could be seen from the abandoned lot at the end of the street, so that's where we headed.

"Allen!" The white haired exorcist was already there, fending off a horde of weird looking Akuma. They were different to what I had seen before, which unfortunately meant that they were probably stronger. Gritting my teeth I ran over to him, unsheathing my katana and turning to face the enemy.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, glancing at me momentarily before going back to his offensive.

"Investigating. I thought you could use a hand." Eyeing the new battlefield I noted two people standing further back, watching the fight. A gasp slipped past my lips as my lazy brain started working again.

"Sebastian, Tyki mustn't be allowed to escape. You know the drill."

"Of course." He dashed off to keep the Noah busy, knowing that he wouldn't be any help against the Akuma anyway. His demonic powers just didn't work against them, something that I just couldn't understand. Allen and I focussed our attention on destroying the Akuma. Curious about what would happen I breathed purple flame across the blade of my katana. Surprisingly it stuck, giving me an awesome new weapon with which I easily managed to destroy my share of the enemy.

"That was different." Allen commented, eyeing my flaming sword cautiously.

"You mean innovative." I corrected him, a loud clash drawing my attention back to the current situation. Shooting an apologetic look I ran over to where Sebastian and Tyki were having a stare off. It was actually a tad comical, but I quickly banished the thought, it wasn't the time.

"It's you huh. This saves me some trouble finding you again. And Road will be pleased too." He motioned to the girl standing not too far off, having been avoiding the confrontation between Noah and demon.

"Sure." Giving him an odd look I stepped forward, looking up at his strange grey face and the markings on his forehead. I still couldn't figure out why he wanted my innocence so badly but it looked like that would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. To repair my soul required the destruction of the innocence, so we now had a common goal in mind. Watching his reaction I stepped forward again until I was standing right in front of him, blade pointed at the ground.

"Someone's bold today." I glared at him, willing myself to be calm. He raised an eyebrow curiously before shrugging and reaching his hand out. I tensed, trying to mentally prepare myself for what was to come. It still wasn't going to be pleasant, even if I was letting him do it by choice. A small sound of fear worked its way from my mouth as his grey hand passed through my throat, fisting around the innocence. His eyes widened in surprise at the lack of resistance, considering what had happened last time. I closed my eyes, whimpering slightly when he crushed it as an uncomfortable feeling ran through my body, settling itself in my chest.

Shuddering I tightened my grip on my katana and opened my eyes. _'That's one part done; now you WILL work for me this time.'_ I mentally chided my blade, concentrating my energy on it. As I forced my will on the weapon a bright purple light filled the air, burning my eyes and forcing an extra weight into my hands.

As the light died away Road's face lit up with surprise. She stepped forward, clutching the pumpkin umbrella to her chest.

"That looks like the Earl's sword…" She muttered to herself, mulling things over in her head. Suddenly her eyes filled with fear. "Tyki! Get away from her!" Tyki glanced up, pulled out of his daze by Road's voice. He met my gaze and his eyes widened when he saw the massive rectangular purple and grey sword resting in my hands where the katana had been moments before.

"So it wasn't the heart…" He murmured, quickly turning his body intangible as I swung the newly formed sword towards him, a murderous glint in my eyes. He began to smirk, but then the sword made contact with his ribs and he gasped in surprise, eyes wide as they processed what was happening.

"She actually hit him!" Allen cried out in amazement, stopping dead in his tracks to watch what would happen. The momentum of my swing slowed down as the sword cut into him, and I smiled sadistically as he struggled, trying to get away now that he realised that he couldn't phase through the sword. Nothing was going through my mind except for the pleasure I felt at savagely murdering the person who ruined my life. I could hear more footsteps approaching in the distance but I knew Sebastian would hold them off if the need arose. My smile faded to a slight frown as I came across an obstacle I couldn't cut through, forcing me to reverse the swing and yank the unusual sword back out of his side.

"Shit…" The tall grey Noah groaned, sophisticated demeanour completely destroyed as he sank to his knees, clutching the gaping hole in his side as he quickly bled out. That wasn't good enough though. Smirking maliciously I thrust the end of the bulky sword through his chest and watched with a horrified fascination as the light faded from those strange eyes and his skin paled back to that of a normal human. Now I was certain he was dead, and I felt the urge to laugh, so I threw my head back and laughed maniacally at the sky.

Silence followed my outburst until I turned my head ever so slightly to look over at the young girl Noah. Nothing happened for almost a full minute until Allen cried "Road, you have to get out of here now!" I scowled and plunged the rectangular sword into the ground, crossing my arms over my blood-stained shirt as my golem flew in worried circles around my head.

"The exorcist is right, lero. We have to leave before the crazy one comes after us, lero." The umbrella instructed, twitching out of Road's hands to hover in front of her. I stared at it for a moment before I started laughing again.

"A talking umbrella! I should have known. Hey Sebastian, you're really old, have you ever seen a talking umbrella before?" My demon butler – or shall I say ex demon butler – let out a tiny disapproving sigh at my question. He really didn't like it when I called him old. During our little conversation, or rather, during my spaced out monologue, Road had finally pulled herself together. An odd door appeared behind her, one very different from the Ark which Allen had used to get here. She sent one more frightened yet hateful glance towards me and the body of her fallen comrade before stepping through the door. I watched with only mild interest as the door disappeared, something I had suspected would from the beginning.

"Now now Love, this isn't what I had expected to find when Will sent me over here." A familiar voice came from behind me. Smiling I turned around and glomped the red haired shinigami, still in an odd state of euphoria after exacting my revenge. He tensed momentarily before patting me awkwardly on the head.

"I guess this means that Noah have souls too." I murmured, looking up into his face. I could hear voices not far off, people talking, people I knew. Allen, Emma and Mary, confirming the identities of those who had been following me, although I had more or less known from the beginning.

"Jasmine…" Grell was quivering nervously and I let him go, giving him a sly look.

"Go talk to Sebastian for a while; I have something to do before we leave." The shinigami grinned happily, dropping his chainsaw death scythe on the ground and running over to throw himself at the demon.

"Jasmine what's happening?" Emma asked as I turned to face the small group, turning my back on the squabbling pair of demon and shinigami.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to say that it's none of your business." I shot back, waving my arm around absently in the air and showing off the contract pentagram on my arm.

"Don't give me that bullshit! Tell us! Isn't Allen your boyfriend? Doesn't he deserve to know?" The white haired boy looked utterly lost at the turn in conversation and I rolled my eyes, letting out a pained sigh.

"Emma, Mary, I'm afraid that this is goodbye. Allen, thank you for everything. Please tell Lavi that I'm sorry, and pass on my goodbyes to everyone else at the Order."

"Jasmine are you serious? Lavi's been devastated since you left and now you're cutting ties for good? What about Lenalee? She was happy to finally have a girl her own age at the Order!" I bit my lip nervously, guilt beginning to kick in as light footsteps approached me from behind.

"What do you mean goodbye?" Mary demanded, stepping forward. I looked away from their piercing gazes, stepping back into Sebastian's arms.

"Grell's taking care of Tyki now right?" He nodded as he hooked one arm under my knees and lifted me up in his arms, holding me bridal-style.

"I believe it's time for us to take our leave milady." Nodding I buried my face in his chest, not wanting to see the looks on their faces as my good mood quickly evaporated. Sebastian smirked at the group over my head, holding me possessively as he stepped backwards into a portal of darkness, black feathers raining down on us.

"Goodbye." I whispered sombrely as they faded away into nothingness.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The ending of this story disappoints me. In all honesty I don't make much of an effort to re-read the things I write, but I've decided that I will work on a COMPLETE rewrite of this story to try and tie up loose ends pointed out to me by a reviewer and to make it more detailed and flow better altogether. When that will be finished I have no idea...**

**In my original AN I went on a little angsty rant about the lack of support I had received, but I realised that I was being a prick and that since I've finished writing it more people have taken an interest in the story.**

**I would like to thank Alice Nyte, Kira440, Knakx, Paxloria, XxEverKnoxX, and Yorukifon for favouriting this story, and of course anyone else who does so after this (July 8th 2012). Every time I get emails like that it makes me happy, regardless of what story they are for, and I really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to look at my work :) **


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